73, The Untold Story of The 73rd Hunger Games
by Kate-The-Great-And-Powerful
Summary: Leda Cleary and Shadow Corelli, two non-Career tributes from District 2, participate in the 73rd annual Hunger Games. But in these Games, there can only be one victor. Leda's POV My very first fanfiction, I wrote it a long time ago, please be nice to it XD
1. Chapter 1: No One Volunteers

**Well, this is my first fanfiction. I really hope you enjoy reading it! Since this is about The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins owns everything. Please review the chapters and tell me what you think! **

Chapter 1

"Shadow Corelli," says Ida Seemly, the representative from the Capitol who comes to District 2 every year for the reaping. She's reading the slip of paper she just pulled out of the reaping ball. I clap, along with everyone else. What an honor! I hope Shadow actually gets to stand up on the stage before someone volunteers for him. Last year, the tributes barely made it ten feet before they were replaced. Shadow walks up to the stage from the roped-off sixteen-year-old section of the square. His dark hair has been parted today, and I almost burst out laughing, since it's so different from his usual style. He goes up the steps, a proud smile on his face, but there's something wrong. The clapping has subsided, as usual, but there's no voice from the audience. No "I volunteer!". No "Let me take his place!". Shadow notices it, too, and gets a panicked look in his eyes. This can't be happening. Not to Shadow. Even worse, if the pattern continues, the next person called will be—

"Leda Cleary!" It's me. I take a deep breath, brush aside a loose strand of hair, and start walking towards the stage from my place among the other fifteen-year-olds. I smile, though I'm incredibly nervous. Why am I scared? I've been picked three times before. Someone always volunteers. Someone _always_ volunteers. I take my place next to Shadow, my smile wavering. No one speaks up.

I shake Shadow's hand and whisper, "Why hasn't anyone replaced us?"

Shadow whispers back, "I don't know."

"I'm scared. What if we have to…"

"No," he assures me, "We won't have to go to the Games. They'll volunteer for us. They have to." I nod, and let go of his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the District 2 tributes of the 73rd annual Hunger Games!" says Ida cheerily. It's too late for volunteers now. Peacekeepers come up on the stage to lead us into the Justice Building. No. I _can't_ die in the Hunger Games. I _won't_. And I won't go into the Justice Building, either, because that's where the end of my life begins. I fold my arms and stay put. Ida tries to reason with me.

"Come on, sweetie, we have to go in now." I shake my head.

"No." I say, "I'm not going in." After about a minute of her trying to convince me, the Peacekeepers take matters into their own hands. One of them lifts me up, puts me over his shoulder, and carries me towards the door of the Justice Building, kicking, punching, and screaming. Shadow follows, silent as one of the shadows he was named for. The Peacekeeper puts me down, but not until we're all the way through the hall. He drops me on the sofa, but I immediately jump up. Before I can yell at him, though, he's out the door. He's taken Shadow with him.

I start to cry. This is the worst of luck. I expected that I would be called again, but Shadow? He didn't do anything wrong! How can we be sent into an arena together, forced to fight each other to the death? He's my best friend. He always has been.

The door opens. My mother walks in. Her eyes are puffy and red from crying.

"Four years in a row…Leda, how did this happen?" she asks.

"I don't know," I say, wiping my eyes. I hate lying.

"Don't worry, Leda. We'll raise money…for sponsors. You're going to win." This time, my mother's the one who's lying. Or maybe she really believes I'll come home. I nod anyway. We talk for a while longer, about meaningless things, like food and hairstyles in the Capitol. In a way, it makes me feel a little better. A Peacekeeper sticks his head in through the door.

"Your time is up. You have to leave now," he says.

"I'll try to win. I really will." I say. My mother nods.

"I'll see you soon, I know it," she says. We hug again, and she gives me a kiss on the forehead. Then, she leaves.

My next visitors are the twins, Minerva and Conrad. They're my older brother and sister. They share my red hair and green eyes, but all their expressions are different, hardened by years at the Academy for Volunteers. Their eyes are dry, but their faces look pained when they see me sitting on the sofa.

"We were hoping it wasn't true." Minerva says.

"We were in the back row, with the other underage volunteers, and didn't hear the names. Who else is going?" says Conrad.

"Shadow," I say.

"I would have volunteered for you, Leda." Minerva says.

"And I would have gone for Shadow," says Conrad.

Minerva continues, "But we were too far back in the audience, and we didn't hear about it until later. Even if we had, we wouldn't have been allowed to take your places. The instructors were watching us like hawks, to make sure we didn't volunteer early." I nod my head, knowing they are telling the truth. They would jump at the chance to fight in the Hunger Games, even if they were in it together. They're both seventeen, and they're scheduled to participate next year, in the 74th Games. I know one of them will win. They've been training so hard. Minerva is an amazing archer, and Conrad is skilled with a spear.

"Why didn't any of the eighteen-year-old volunteers take my place?"

"There was an…accident, yesterday during training. The entire group of eighteen-year-olds was deemed incapable to volunteer afterwards." Conrad says.

"We told you not to take tesserae!" scolds Minerva, "We don't need _any_, much less extra! How much did you sign up for to be chosen four years in a row? Did you think you would benefit? And now, you have all this grain and oil, but is it worth going to the Capitol to be killed?"

"She's not going to get killed," Conrad says. Minerva and I ignore him.

"No, but I was so confident there would be volunteers. There always are. You could have told me there weren't going to be any! You knew!" I say.

"It was too late, then! Once you sign up for tesserae, you can't take it back!" Minerva argues. We realize we're shouting at each other, and quiet down.

"Listen. There's only one way to get home at this point. You have to win." Conrad tells me.

"We don't have much time, but we'll try to give you as much information as possible while we can," Minerva says. I nod my head.

Conrad says, "In training, there are two options. The first one is to show all your skills all at once and intimidate the other tributes. I don't think you should go with that one. The second option is to go for the survival stations first, and then learn the weapons on the final day. Luckily, everyone will be so occupied with last minute training that they won't notice you, or find out how you fight."

"All right," I say.

"Also," Minerva says, "You should try to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. I think you'd be good."

"Thanks," I reply, "I'll try it." Before they can tell me anything else, though, the door opens and the Peacekeeper tell us it's time to leave for the Capitol. Both Minerva and Conrad, despite their cruel personalities, hug me tightly.

"Take this," says Minerva, handing me a small package, "Father made it. He sent it to us to give to you, to wear on reaping day. Will you wear it for luck in the arena?" I nod, and slip the package in my pocket.

"Maybe you'll be teaching us in training next year," says Conrad. I smile weakly.

"I hope you're right," I whisper.


	2. Chapter 2: We Meet The Mentor

Chapter 2

This is not a train. It's fancier than my house, and much bigger. There are separate sleeping cars for Shadow, Ida, our mentor, and myself. Each has a private bathroom. There's also a dining car, and a car that's filled with little couches and chairs, which is the one we happen to be sitting in right now. Shadow and I sit side by side.

"Is that your token?" I ask, pointing to a little silver ring on a black cord around his neck. He nods.

"Yours?" he asks. I realize I still haven't opened my package. I unfold the paper, and find a necklace inside. There's a pendant hanging on it, a miniature swan of marble. The detail is incredible. I can see almost every feather. My father definitely made this. He was sent to work in District 3 a few years ago, and I rarely see him. I wonder if he knows where I am now. I hold up my token for Shadow to see.

"It's pretty," he says. There's a long pause.

"Did Minerva and Conrad know why no one volunteered for us?" he asks.

"Yeah. None of the eighteen-year-olds could volunteer after some accident that happened during training. The twins would have volunteered for us, but they weren't allowed." I say. Shadow nods.

"Oh," he says. There's a long pause.

"Conrad had some advice for us, about training for the Games. He said that we should go to the survival stations first, and then try the weapons on the last day while everyone else is distracted. They'll be trying to get in as much training as they can on the final day, and won't notice how we fight." I tell him.

"That's a good idea. What are you fighting with?" wonders Shadow.

"I think I'll try shooting a bow and arrow." I say, "What about you?"

"Maybe a sword," he says. I'm about to respond when the door opens, and a woman walks in. She looks normal enough, if not a little intense. However, when she smiles at us, I jump back. Her teeth are altered, filed to a point like shark's teeth, the sharp ends decorated with gold. I almost pass out, but she closes her mouth before I lose consciousness.

"Hello, tributes." she says, "My name is Enobaria, and I'll be mentoring you." I remember her. She won the 62nd Hunger Games by ripping out an opponent's throat with her teeth.

"What are your names?" she asks.

"I'm Shadow Corelli," says Shadow, "And this is Leda Cleary." Trust Shadow to always know when I've lost the ability to speak.

"I understand that you two are not volunteer tributes. Know that I am very disappointed, but I will try my best to prepare you, even though it is probably futile," she says. Shadow raises an eyebrow and looks over at me.

"Um…Thank you," he says after a long silence, "For trying."

"So, how do you two fight?" she says.

"We don't. We were never taught how." I say. Enobaria seems surprised to hear me speak.

"You're planning to learn, right? What are you going to fight with?" she says.

"I want to learn how to fight with a sword, and Leda thinks she should try shooting with a bow and arrow," says Shadow. Enobaria shakes her head.

"You shouldn't waste your time with a bow. You can't learn it in such a short amount of time. If I were you, I'd learn to use a knife. They're lighter, better to fight with close-range, and easier to get. Shadow, I think the sword is a good weapon for you," she says. I fold my arms. I'm not giving up on the bow so quickly.

Enobaria continues, "Now, how are you going to get sponsors? I take it you two are going to be allies?" We nod.

"There are multiple angles you could go for. For the cameras. There's the romance angle-" Shadow and I both turn red and rapidly decline.

"We're best friends back home," suggests Shadow quickly.

"Of course. So onstage, and in the Games, just remember, you two are best friends, and use it." She says. _Easy enough_, I think.

"Let's go to dinner," Enobaria says. She stands up and starts walking towards the door. I look at Shadow, who has a smile on his face. He mimes flossing his teeth, and puts on a confused expression when the string "snaps". I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing when Enobaria turns around and tells us to hurry up. She holds the door as Shadow walks through, but grabs my shoulder before I can follow.

"Listen," she says, "That show you put on at the reaping is _not_ good for sponsors. If you don't live it down, you won't get any gifts in the arena. You have to make up for it. Be good at fighting, get a high score in training, make a good impression at the interview. I don't care what you do, but do _something_, or you're on your own. I can't help you there." She lets go of me and I hurry to catch up with Shadow, wondering how I can clean up the mess I've gotten myself into.


	3. Chapter 3: Mandatory Viewing

Chapter 3

After dinner, an amazing six-course meal with some of the most delicious foods I've ever tasted, Enobaria tells Shadow and I she needs to show us something. We follow her to her room, where she has a television set up. She has us sit on the couch.

"You two watch the Hunger Games on television, right?" We nod. Of course we do. It's mandatory viewing during most hours of the day. Minerva and Conrad sometimes watched them all night, too, every year before they went off to volunteer training. Sometimes, they even show the highlights during lunch at school.

"I've put together a collection of clips from previous Games, for you to watch. I think you'll learn something from it." She presses a button on the remote, and the video plays. Clip after clip of the exact same thing. The deaths of tributes. I even recognize a few of them, from past Games, but none from District 2, of course. How is this supposed to help us? Certainly there's more to the Games than just the kills! Back on the screen, a girl falls from a tree with an arrow in her heart. A boy is stabbed repeatedly with a knife. As I watch the tape, my anger is rapidly replaced by fear. I look over at Shadow. The color is draining from his face. I turn back to the screen, but quickly cover my eyes as yet another tribute is brutally killed. I can't take much more of this. Neither can Shadow. Less than a week from now, this could be _us_. We lock eyes, and he points to the door. Slowly, silently, we stand up and walk around to the back of the couch. Enobaria doesn't notice us. Her eyes are glued to the screen. We open the door. The last thing I see is Enobaria's face, illuminated by the television image of a teenage girl stabbing another tribute with a knife. Wait a second. It's…_her_. She's waving at the camera and smiling, as the real Enobaria smiles now. The gold decorations on her razor-sharp teeth glint eerily in the dim light.

We go to our separate cars. I try my best to fall asleep, but I toss and turn in bed for hours before I finally doze off. Even then, I have nightmares about the Games. Except this time, I'm not just watching them. I'm living them.


	4. Chapter 4: The Statues From Two

Chapter 4

When I wake up, we're just pulling into the Capitol train station. When I pull open the shades of my window, I can see the massive crowd outside. I'm so surprised I almost fall out of my bed. I wave timidly, suddenly quite aware of my crumpled clothes and tangled hair.

What's even bigger than the crowd of cheering people is the Capitol itself. The station has a glass roof, so I can see the enormous buildings, candy-colored streets, and oddly shaped houses. It's strange, but it's breathtaking, too, even from the window of a train. I give the crowd one last wave, close the blinds, and turn on the lights. A green blouse and black skirt wait in my closet. I finger the material. It's as smooth as silk. I put on the outfit, along with my token necklace, brush my hair, and walk to the dining car. I have another fantastic meal; with drinks of neon colors and a strange sort of toast that tastes just like blueberries. Ida is excited about the tribute parade. She's an aspiring stylist, and she tells us all about the outfits she'd put us in.

"That sounds very nice," we lie. I don't think Ida takes our tone of voice into account, nor does she seem to actually hear us talking. After breakfast, we drive to the Remake Center. Ida and Enobaria decide to go run some "errands", which I'm sure include going to some of the pre-Games parties, before watching the tribute parade.

"Have fun!" Ida tells me, "And don't worry, they'll be able to do something nice with your hair before the tribute parade!"

"What's wrong with my hair?" I exclaim, frustrated, but she's already out the door. Shadow and I are taken into different rooms. Mine is an oval shaped space. It has a big bathtub along one wall. Shelves and shelves of every beauty tool you could imagine occupy the other wall. I recognize a few, but the rest of them are unfamiliar. It unnerves me how closely some resemble torture devices. In the middle of the room is a large pink chair. I'm examining one of eleven different nail files when three people burst through the door. It's my prep team. I drop the file.

When I look at their outfits, I'm almost as shocked as I was when I first saw Enobaria's teeth. Almost. One of them is a lady who wears all pink, with curly pink hair, pink tattoos on her arms, and pink jewels on her face instead of eyebrows. The second one looks younger, maybe the same age as Shadow. She wears a feathered wig and feathered clothing. She even has tiny feathers on her eyelashes. The third is a man with spiky hair the same color as mine, except much brighter and quite unnatural. He wears black eyeliner and nail polish, and his suit has blinking electric lights that depict lightning.

"Hello!" says the lady in pink. I immediately notice a Capitol accent even worse than Ida's.

"We're your prep team!" exclaims the feathered girl.

"My name is Achilles," says the red-haired man.

"I'm Diana," says the lady in pink.

"And I'm Erato!" says the feathered girl.

"Hello," I say, "I'm Leda." As soon as I say it, my prep team goes to work. They inspect every inch of me, put me in the bathtub, and scrub my skin until it turns pink. They put at least seven different types of soap in my hair. After that, they dress me in a robe, sit me down in the pink chair, and rip almost every hair off my body. They're going to be sorry if the arena's an icy tundra again. Then, while Diana plucks my eyebrows into almost oblivion, Erato files my nails into ovals while chatting away about how exciting the pre-Games parties have been this year, and Achilles cuts the uneven ends off my hair. The more time that passes, the more I can't understand just how their strange styles can be interpreted as fashionable. Not even here, where everyone I've seen so far has looked like some strange creature from an alien world. Maybe it's because I'm very far from home. Do people dress like this in the other districts? No, of course not. I've seen the reapings. The Capitol escorts always stick out horribly, like a flamingo in a flock of pigeons. District 1 sometimes proves to be the exception, but even their wildest fashions can't compare to the Capitol's crazy trends.

My prep team wishes me luck at the parade and in training.

"Bye!" says Diana.

"See you in a few days!" says Achilles.

"Don't bite your nails," says Erato.

Three seconds after they leave the room, my stylist comes in. I haven't said a word to him yet, but I already know he's fond of snakes. He has a snake tattoo on the side of his face, and a shirt, much like Achilles's suit, that has an animated snake slithering around it.

"Hello Leda!" he says, "I'm Perseus. It's so nice to finally meet you!" While he talks, I realize he has a forked tongue.

"Hello," I say. Without missing a beat, Perseus begins to talk about the outfit I'll be wearing at today's event.

"I'm so excited to show you your dress for the tribute parade. Since District 2 specializes in masonry, I have an idea to turn its tributes into…" My eyes widen as I see a live snake slither around his arm. He sees me staring and pauses.

"Oh," he says, smiling, "You've noticed Frederick."

"Frederick?" I ask. In answer, he holds up the snake.

"Don't worry, he's quite tame. Would you like to hold him?"

"No!" I say, and then realize how quick I was to answer, "No, thank you."

"It's okay," Perseus tells me, "Snakes aren't for everybody. Most people prefer hyenas as pets, anyway, especially after the 70th Games. You remember, right? The one where…Yes." He nods, certain I remember it, and puts Frederick back on his arm.

"So, I have an idea to turn the tributes from District 2 into living statues!"

"What?" I ask.

"I would tell you, but I think I should just explain by showing you the dress." I'm still confused. What does he mean by living statues? Statues are rock. I think I've lived in District 2 long enough to say that rocks aren't alive. My questions are answered when I see the dress, though.

It looks like a ballgown, but it's very stiff. When I put it on, the fabric barely bends. It's beautiful, though, made out of a shimmery gray material that reminds me of marble.

"It's wonderful!" I tell him.

"Thanks you," he replies, smiling. "Now, it's time to do your hair and makeup!" He puts a strange kind of powder on my arms and face that makes them flash a strange silvery gray color in the light. He also puts it in my hair, after he styles it in an updo. When I look in the mirror, I flicker like a candle, sometimes looking like me, sometimes the same color as my dress. I have been turned into a living statue. The door opens, and Shadow comes in, dressed in a similar stony gray suit.

"How do I look?" he asks.

"Fantastic!" I exclaim.

We look in the mirror together, flickering in almost unison. Shadow's stylist comes in.

"Hello Acantha," says Perseus.

"Perseus," Acantha nods to him, "You two, it's time to board your chariot."

On the way to the chariots, Shadow tells me about his prep team.

"They're a team of triplets, all identical, all dressed in scales. They have this habit of finishing each other's sentences. When they aren't doing that, they're speaking in unison! Always! Isn't that crazy?" he says. I start laughing. I can't help but think of Minerva and Conrad. They always make a point not to finish each other's sentences, but it never works. It's like they can read each other's minds. I couldn't believe they were willingly going into the Games in the same year. I still can't. But rules are rules, and one of them will have to come home alone next year.

We're led into a huge room full of chariots and tributes, and we get a glimpse of our competition for the first time. The chariots are spaced so far apart; I can only see the ones next to us. The tributes from 1 stand tall and proud at the head of the line. They wear all gold. The tributes from 3 wear scowls. They're dressed in green with copper wires snaking up and down their outfits.

"They're definitely Careers," Shadow whispers, pointing to the tributes from 1 as we step up into a gray chariot with horses of the same color.

"Volunteers," I correct him, "They're all definitely volunteers."

"Doesn't matter. They chose to be here. We should stay away from them," he says.

Soon enough, the District 1 chariot starts moving. We follow close behind. The roar of the crowd is deafening. Shadow and I immediately start acting like statues, freezing in different poses. The audience loves it. They're waving, cheering our names, and throwing flowers. I reach up to catch a perfect white rose, but its thorns prick my fingers and I drop it. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see Shadow, holding a red rose. He hands it to me, and the crowd goes wild.

We try our hardest not to burst out laughing while our faces are up on the big screen. In a matter of seconds, the camera switches to the District 3 tributes. When our chariot pulls into its place, Shadow and I strike waving poses for the cameras. I almost fall out of the chariot as it jerks to a stop, but I hold onto the side and manage to get myself back up again. The audience starts to laugh, and I'm sure my face is turning bright red under all that makeup. I look away from the cameras, frowning.

Shadow whispers in my ear, "Just remember, we're only doing this for sponsors." I nod my head. I have to make up for what happened on reaping day. I stand up straighter, put on a big smile, and wave to tell the audience I'm okay. They cheer enthusiastically. From laughing at me to cheering for me, just like that. It's impossible to tell who they'll sponsor. Soon enough, we start moving again, and we're back in the enormous chariot room.

We don't stop laughing until we're in the elevator, on our way to our room above the Training Center. Shadow hits a big button marked with a "2".

"That was fun," he says.

"Yeah. But we still can't forget why we're here," I tell him.

"We're going to training tomorrow," he reminds me, "We won't forget."


	5. Chapter 5: In Which Training Begins

Chapter 5

When I wake up in the morning, the Training Center uniform is in my closet. It has my district number on the back and the sleeves. I pull my hair into a ponytail and ride the elevator down with Shadow.

"Sleep well?" he asks me. I shrug.

"You?" I ask. He has the same response.

"We try the survival stations today, right?"

"Yeah," I say, "Which one do you want to do first?"

"Well, I think we should try edible plants. Is there an edible plants station?" he wonders.

"I think so." I respond uncertainly. They usually only show the fighting stations on television. The elevator lets us know we've reached the bottom floor of the building by letting out a small _ding_.

When the doors open, I gasp. The room is gigantic! There is an edible plants station, along with a camouflage station, a snare setting station, a fire starting station, and many others. There are also shelves and racks loaded with weapons, life-sized dummies and human-shaped targets, and a ropes course stretching across the ceiling.

The head trainer, a woman named Atala, lectures us about the rules. No fighting with other tributes. No damaging the stations. No stealing tools or weapons.

When we finally are allowed to start training, Shadow and I head for the edible plants station. The boy from 1 has the same idea. This is quite unusual, since he's an obvious Career. Shouldn't he be at one of the fighting stations? He doesn't talk to us, but he does look our way and offer a nod. This is also very unusual. Perhaps it's because we're from District 2. We've earned some respect over the years for having the largest amount of victors. The edible plants station is a large table with a bunch of different plants growing on it. The object of the station is to pick the plants that you can eat, and ignore the poisonous ones. When you're finished, the trainer tells you your score. We pick plants for a while with the boy from 1. He's very good at identifying plants. I watch him inspect the leaves, test the color of the berry juice on the table, even break the stem of the plant and examine what's inside. He gets a perfect score. I end up with a 43%, since the majority of my basket is nightlock and poison oak. Shadow's basket has no edible plants in it at all. We practice here for a while until my score is raised to a 71%. Shadow's score becomes a 24%, and he tells me how glad he is that we're going to be allies. I start laughing.

We leave the boy from 1 and continue to the fire-starting station. I manage to get a small flame going. Soon enough, Shadow has one too. The last station we try is the knot-tying station. I learn five different knots that can keep me up a tree while I sleep. I hope there will be trees in the arena. One year, it was a barren desert, with few places to hide. It was the shortest Games in history, over in less than a week. 17 people died on the very first day.

When it's time to go, we board an elevator filled with about fifteen of the tributes. Luckily, it's a big elevator. No one speaks to each other, except for the Careers, of course. They're trying to intimidate the other tributes. They talk about what they did during training, and how many people they would kill with that particular skill during the Games. The boy from 1 even finds a way to make plant identification sound intimidating. When he leaves with his district partner, a tall blond girl whose smile seems to have been permanently replaced with a smirk, the girl from 5 looks dangerously close to tears. We get off on the second floor.

After dinner, I go to my room, change clothes, and lie down on my soft bed. I'm about to drift off when I hear a noise. I follow the sound, and it leads me to the kitchen. Shadow is sitting at the table, in a conversation with an Avox. Of course, they aren't really talking to each other. Avoxes are criminals who had their tongues cut out and were turned into silent servants. Shadow is laughing quietly at something the Avox wrote down on a piece of paper. The Avox's mouth is moving soundlessly. She takes up the pen and is writing again when she looks up for a second and sees me standing there. Shadow sees me, too. The Avox gets up quickly and starts to walk away, but Shadow grabs her arm.

"It's okay. She won't tell anyone," he says, "Right, Leda?" I nod. Shadow invites me to come sit at the table. The Avox gives me a little wave, looking away, and I wave back. As we talk, I learn that her name is Kiyo, she turned 16 last month, and she used to live in District 13. That's where I got confused.

"District…13?" I ask, "That can't be right. Are you from District 1 or District 3?" She writes, _District 13._

"But District 13 was destroyed. There's no way anyone could live there," Shadow says.

_There is a way,_ writes Kiyo.

"But they send someone there every year to check if it's safe. They said there was too much radiation from the mines to live there." I say.

_"They" were lying. "They" don't want anyone to know. _Kiyo writes.

"I can't believe it," says Shadow.

"_They" are also the ones who did this to me._

She points to her mouth.

_So believe it._

"Sorry," he says.

_It's all right. Anyway, 13 exists. The citizens are all in hiding. They live underground. The only ones who know are 13 itself and the Capitol. Now you know, too._

"But it's pointless, because we're being sent away to be killed in a few days." I sigh.

_No. Don't worry. You can try to win. Show Panem the Capitol isn't the only one who makes the rules. 13 doesn't participate in the Games, but it hasn't lost yet. Neither have you. So try to win, both of you. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?_

"Okay," we both say. Kiyo smiles at us and waves goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6: Our Competition

Chapter 6

When we wake up in the morning, it's our second day of group training. We change into our uniforms, eat breakfast, and take the elevator downstairs. We aren't alone this time. In the same elevator are the tributes from District 6. They don't notice us, because they're in the middle of an argument.

"Is it because you don't want to be in an alliance with me?" the girl is saying.

"No! It's just…being part of the Career pack will get you farther in the Games. You should join, too!" says the boy.

"No. We're not like them. And it won't matter how good you are at fighting, because they've been training all their lives! They can take you out easily!" says the girl.

"That's wrong! They want me to be a part of their group! They want you, too! Why wouldn't they?" The girl shakes her head forcefully.

"You tell your Career friends I'll last twice as long as any of them on my own!" says the girl. Then, she's silent. The boy sighs, and seems to notice us for the first time. His eyes widen. He whispers something into the girl's ear, and her face turns bright red. They hurry out of the elevator as soon as the doors open. Shadow and I walk out into the Training Center.

"One more Career to worry about," says Shadow.

"Volunteer," I correct. I don't know why I still do that, since I stopped thinking that way a long time ago.

"Where should we go today?" asks Shadow, "It's your turn to choose."

"Hmmm," I say, "How about…" My eyes travel upwards. "The ropes course?"

"Sounds good to me," he replies.

Shadow can't get past the first ladder. It keeps spinning around, and he falls to the floor every time. I wait for him on a small platform at the top, but he can't climb up.

"You go ahead," he says, "I think I'll give the camouflage station a go." I give him a thumbs-up and keep climbing.

Soon enough, I reach the top of the course. I perch atop one of the highest nets. There are two other girls up here with me. They're from Districts 4 and 8. The District 8 girl is busy pinning back her hair, which probably fell out of her ponytail while she was climbing. The girl from 4 is watching her. She doesn't notice me as I take a seat next to her. I'm about to ask her why she's staring at the girl from 8 when I hear a clanging noise. I look over to see a rack of weapons knocked over by one of the heavy medicine balls.

"Sorry!" one of he tribute boys yells. When I turn back, the girl from 4 has moved a couple feet over. I also hear screaming. The District 8 girl has fallen off the top! Luckily, she grabbed hold of a lower net, and hangs there by one hand. A group of trainers and Peacekeepers carry a big, trampoline-like object under her, and tell her to let go. She falls safely into the middle, though she's still screaming.

"It was the girl from 4!" she yells, furious, "She pushed me off!" I look over to the District 4 girl, who's still looking down at her, but with a smile on her face.

"The Gamemakers can take it out on you, you know! They will!" shrieks the girl who fell.

The District 4 girl mumbles under her breath, something like, "I'd like to see them try." Then, she looks over at me. I start backing away, afraid that I wouldn't be able to grab another net if I were pushed off as well.

We decide to meet up with Kiyo again. She's waiting at the table when we come. She's already written a note on the paper.

_I worked in some of the other tributes' rooms today. I thought you might like to hear some of the things I learned. Do you?_

"Always," I say, smiling, "Thank you."

_No problem. Now, I learned that the girl from 7 is a Career, but her partner isn't. The tributes from 9 are geniuses. I couldn't understand half of what they said at breakfast this morning. Oh, and, I thought you should know, the girl from 8 complained a lot about her encounter with the District 4 girl, who, by the way, is a vegetarian. She mentioned you once or twice. You were on the net with her?_

"Wait…who? The girl from 4 or the one from 8?" I ask.

_8_

"Good. The girl from 4 scares me," I say truthfully.

_Me too. Well, that's about all I learned today, unless you want to know all about the District 5 escort's many cats, because she talks nonstop about them._

"That's okay," laughs Shadow. We hear Enobaria's voice from another room.

"Who are you talking to?" she says drowsily. I stifle a giggle.

"We should go," says Shadow, "Same time tomorrow?"

_Okay. Good luck in training._

"Thanks," I say, "Bye."

"Bye," says Shadow.


	7. Chapter 7: Choose Wisely

Chapter 7

Today is the day we try out the weapons. We have to be quick learners, or we won't stand a chance in the Games. As soon as we get down to the Training Center, I realize that Conrad was right about today. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own training that they barely even glance our way. Shadow makes a beeline for the sword station, where a few Careers and the girl from 6 are already attacking the human-shaped dummies with amazing skill. Following Minerva's advice, I head to the archery station. Only one other tribute is there, the girl from District 12. I pick up a bow. It feels heavy and awkward in my hands. The girl from 12 chooses an arrow with care, positions it in her bow, and lets it fly. It hits its mark exactly. She notices me staring, and turns toward me. She puts out her hand. I shake it.

"My name is Bryony," she tells me. She doesn't smile.

"Leda," I say. She turns back to the target, completely ignoring me. She shoots another arrow, and it splits the first one's wooden shaft in two. She gives me a smirk. Showoff. I can do that. I choose my arrow. This particular arrow is almost stuck in the wall. When I pull it out, the entire shelf collapses, spilling arrows all over the ground. Bryony, surprised, releases her arrow early. She misses by a mile. She turns around, furious. She looks like she's about to start screaming at me, but instead she walks off to join her district partner, who's busy accidentally setting the fire station alight. I fix my arrow on my bowstring, and prepare to shoot. I let go of the string, but the arrow lands at my feet. I try again, but it only travels a short distance. Even after multiple tries, the best I get is an arrow embedded in the wall next to the target. I'm so frustrated. Bryony made it look so easy! I'm about to throw down my bow when Shadow taps me on the shoulder. I jump about five feet in the air, surprised.

"You scared me!" I say.

"I see," he says, "Do you want to come practice at the sword fighting station for a while?" I nod my head, hang up the bow, and walk over to the other side of the room. I look at the wall of weapons. Many of them are too big or heavy for me to hold. I end up choosing one of the smallest blades from the rack. I can't get enough power for a good swing, and the dummy is barely injured. Shadow has no problem slicing, impaling, and decapitating many dummies, even with his large sword. I put my weapon back. Before I walk off to try a different station, I spot a knife. It looks as sharp as a sword, but it's smaller and lighter. As much as I hate myself for following Enobaria's advice, I pick it up and try stabbing a couple dummies. I end up practicing with my knife for the rest of the session. I'm not as good as Bryony or Shadow, but at least I found a weapon I can use.


	8. Chapter 8: All By Myself

Chapter 8

Kiyo left us a note saying she had some work to do in the District 6 tributes' apartment, so we head off to bed early.

When we wake up in the morning, a very important day has come. It's time for our individual training sessions! I'm so worried. What will I do? How will I do it? How do I impress the Gamemakers? I barely have time to think about it before Shadow and I are taken down to the Training Center.

We train together for a couple hours, trying to get in as much as we can. Shadow and I practice fighting, and then move on to the stations we missed on the first few days. Shadow proves to be a natural hunter, while I either miss or scare off every target. The instructor keeps yelling at me. "You're too loud! You're too slow!" I decide to take a break. As I look around the gym, I realize that many of this year's tributes are fighting with swords. Would I stand a chance with a tiny knife? What if I end up with a weapon I've never practiced with, like an axe? Or, even worse, no weapon at all? I try not to think about it.

Later, we take a break to eat lunch. Peacekeepers walk into the room occasionally, to call tributes in for their individual sessions with the Gamemakers. I watch the boy from District 1 leave the room.

"What are you going to do?" Shadow asks me. I turn back around.

"I think I'll fight a little with my knife. How about you?"

"The sword, definitely. I hope they have them at the Cornucopia." I hesitate. I realize the Cornucopia is something we haven't discussed at all, not even while Enobaria was mentoring us.

"Are we…going for the Cornucopia? Getting supplies?" I ask.

"Of course." Shadow looks surprised, "We have to. We can't just run off, not prepared, and hope we can take down another tribute who is. We're going to go for the Cornucopia." I nod.

"But we can't stay long. Let's grab the first things we see and get out as soon as possible." I'm whispering now, so none of the other tributes know our plans. Even though we're the only ones at our table, the Careers are all sitting nearby.

"Sounds like a good strategy," Shadow whispers back. The girl from 1 is called in. There's a long silence between Shadow and I. I have another thought.

"What are we hoping to get? From the Cornucopia?" I ask.

"I think we should make it our goal to get out with a backpack and a weapon each," says Shadow. We don't have time to keep talking, since a Peacekeeper taps him on the shoulder. I am alone.

Soon enough, it's my turn. The door opens for me, and I walk back into the Training Center. The Gamemakers are sitting in chairs on a landing, talking with each other. The door closes, and they all turn my way. The room is eerily silent.

"Leda Cleary, District 2." I say. My voice echoes in the vast space. All eyes are on me. I walk over to the weapons rack and locate my knife. After a few experimental stabs at a training dummy, I start to fight. I don't completely annihilate the dummies, like Shadow, but I hit key spots and get a reassuring _beep_ from the speakers when the dummy "dies". This must be to tell the Gamemakers how I'm doing if they don't see exactly where I strike.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

I lower my knife. I must still have some time, because the Gamemakers haven't asked me to leave yet. I hang up the weapon and head to the beginning of the ropes course. I make it to the top in record time. I can't tell if the Gamemakers are impressed, because I'm so high above their heads.

One of them calls up to me, "Thank you. You may go." I start to climb back down. Did I do well? What will be my score? When I get to the bottom, a new door has opened for me. I walk out through it as the Gamemakers talk amongst themselves.

I sit down on the couch next to Shadow.

"What did you do?" I ask him.

"I used one of the swords, like I said I would. How about you? Did you do well with the knife?" he asks.

"I think so. I had some time left over, so I climbed up the ropes course." I say, "I'm sure I didn't do anything they'll remember. I'll probably get a 4."

"I don't know. Doing the ropes course may have gotten you some points. Then again, I guess the Gamemakers don't usually go for that kind of thing. You never know." He shrugs. I'm about to respond, but the television turns on. Ida is standing behind us, holding a remote.

"Shall we watch the scores?" she asks. She isn't expecting an answer. She sits down on the couch. Even Enobaria comes out of her room to join us.

"For your own sake, tributes, I hope you didn't mess up," she says. I want to say something back, but I am interrupted again by the television. It's Claudius Templesmith, sitting at a desk with papers in his hands. As he announces the scores, pictures of the tributes come up on the screen behind him. The first score announced is for the boy from 1. He gets an 8. The girl gets a 9. I wonder what she did during her session. Shadow gets an 8, a very impressive score for someone who has never so much as picked up a sword until three days ago. My score is broadcasted next. I get a 6. I'm not happy about it. This won't earn me a lot of sponsors. I'll have to make up for it during my interview.

Enobaria shakes her head at us and leaves the room, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like, "There's no hope." This doesn't make me feel any better.

Ida tells me, "Don't worry Leda, dear. The girl who won last year only got a 4." We turn back to the television and keep watching. There are a couple notable scores. The girl from 7 gets an 11. The tributes from 9 both have 8s, and Bryony from 12 gets a 10. Her district partner gets a 3. For the sake of the boy who almost burned down the fire-setting station, I hope the tributes from 12 are allies.

After scoring, we go off to our rooms. We wait until Ida has stopped talking on the phone to come back out. Kiyo is sitting at the table again, a new note in her hand.

_The tributes from 6 are always screaming at each other. It gets annoying._

Shadow laughs and says, "Hi Kiyo." I smile.

_So, want to know more about your competition?_

I nod.

_All right. Thankfully, I didn't stay with the loudmouths from 6 for the entire day._

"We were with them in the elevator. They barely noticed us, they were too busy arguing." I said, "The boy joined the Careers."

_Is that so? Anyway, I heard about the girl from 11. Rumor has it she's pretty consistent with a knife. And the tributes from 10 are fistfighters, but neither one of them seems ready for the Games. I think they're scared._

"They aren't the only ones," I say.

_I know, the girl from 5 is terrified of everything and everyone, including her district partner. I don't blame her, though. That boy is kind of creepy._

"I meant us." I say. Kiyo raises an eyebrow.

_But you're from 2!_

"We're not volunteers, though. We were chosen." Shadow says.

_That's unusual._

"Yeah," I say with a sigh.

_Well, I'll bet you two are as big a threat in the arena as any Career!"_

"Thanks," says Shadow. We hear footsteps in the next room.

"It's probably Enobaria." I whisper, "We have to leave."

_It's okay, but… There's one more thing I need to tell you._

"What is it?" asks Shadow.

_The girl from 9 sings in the shower. _

She draws a little smiley face after that.

_Bye!_

Shadow and I laugh and go back to our rooms. As I lay in my bed, I realize that I might know my competition too well. It'll be hard when we're fighting them in the arena. I try not to think about the Games as I drift off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9: One Day Left

Chapter 9

The next morning, we go to breakfast early.

"Shadow," Enobaria says, "You've gotten into a habit of calling the volunteer tributes 'Careers'. You'd better not say that during your interview. Listen to Leda." I poke Shadow on the shoulder and give him a mock-serious nod. _Yeah, listen to Leda!_ Enobaria talks about different strategies we can use for our interviews. Eventually, she remembers that we're using the fact that we're friends back home, but we're taken away to meet with our stylists before she can say another word.

It's time to find out what outfits we'll wear for our interviews.

"Leda!" exclaims Diana.

"Wait until you see what we have in store for you!" says Achilles.

"Oh my, you're going to just _love_ your dress!" squeals Erato. My prep team almost repeats their routine for the tribute parade. Then, Diana does my makeup. She gives me a bit of silver eye shadow, among other things. Erato paints silver polish onto my nails. Achilles puts silver ribbons in my hair. I can see where this is going.

"Hello Leda!" says Perseus, after the prep team is done with me.

"Hi, Perseus." I say, "Um…Hi Frederick."

"I can't wait to show you your interview outfit!" he says, "Let me bring it out now."

Perseus has designed a wonderful dress for me! It's a light grey color, with a black pleated edge on the skirt and sleeves. It's covered with tiny silver gems, which shine like newly polished stone. I put it on and twirl around. Perseus positions a silver headpiece atop my head. As the final touch, he fastens my token around my neck.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"I love it!" I exclaim, "It's even better than being a living statue!"

"Now, go out there and make an impression!" he says. I nod.

"I will."

Caesar Flickerman wears red this year. His suit, hair, and even his eyebrows are a deep crimson color. It's a little scary, since he appears to be…bleeding. It's definitely intimidating some of the other tributes, too. We all sit in chairs in front of the stage. The boy from 1 sits next to me, and Shadow sits on the other side. He's wearing an outfit similar to mine, but in suit form, of course. He doesn't have a headpiece. I'm sure he's grateful. He looks over at me. I open my mouth to speak to him, but Caesar Flickerman starts his introduction, and the music drowns out my words.

The girl from District 1 goes up first. She laughs a lot and acts extremely cocky during her interview. She doesn't reveal her weapon of choice, but her smile suggests she's thinking: _Ha! Too bad! You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out how I'm gonna win this!_

The boy is a little awkward onstage. I'm surprised, since he seemed so confident in the elevator that day. He's still as serious as he was at the plant station, though.

"Introducing, Leda Cleary from District 2!" I make my way up onstage and sit in the chair.

"Hello, Leda!" says Caesar.

"Hello," I say back, though I'm looking into the audience nervously. Caesar immediately starts talking again, to avoid awkward silences.

"So, how's the Capitol been treating you?"

"Really well, I…like it here. The food is really good." I say.

"What about training? Learned any new skills?" he asks.

"Without a doubt," I say, starting to smile. "But it isn't likely I'll do well with a bow. I only managed to shoot one arrow properly, and it hit the wall next to the target. But don't worry," I direct this toward the audience, "I've found a weapon I can work with." I even wink. Who is this?

"So, Leda, what's life like in 2?" This is a new kind of question. Caesar hardly ever asks about the districts.

"Okay. Of course, it can't really compare to the Capitol, but there's no place like home, right? See, each town is named after a particular type of rock, since that's what's produced there. I live in Rhyolite 21. We have a rhyolite quarry, and it's the twenty first one in the district. There are 40, actually." The crowd talks amongst themselves. They obviously know next to nothing about the districts.

"Interesting," says Caesar, "Very interesting. Now, if it's okay with you, could you tell me something about the reaping? You were picked _four times_, and just this once, you…got nervous." I appreciate how he says "got nervous" instead of "freaked out". I blush bright red, and everyone can see it this time.

"Um…well…I guess, the thing about the reaping is that it's just…luck. I don't know yet if it's good luck or bad, just like I didn't know then. I mean, there's so much tough competition here. I guess, at the moment, I thought it was bad luck. And there also _was_ the bad kind of luck that day because Shadow was called. He's only been called once, this year. And he's my best friend." A gasp comes from the crowd.

I continue, "But I shouldn't have made all that fuss. I mean, this is my fourth year picked as a tribute. It's my destiny to be here." I nod my head. I lied. It's because I applied for too much tesserae that I didn't need. But hey, do they really need to know everything?

"Shadow's your best friend?" Even Caesar sounds surprised, "Leda, I had no idea!"

I hesitate before saying, "Well, we'll help each other out in the Games. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. We'll last longer if we're together. So don't count us out just yet!" Another audience directed statement. I'm getting good at this. Caesar seems satisfied, so he wishes me luck (the good kind, of course, which gets laughs from the audience) and bids me farewell.

Shadow is really good when he goes up for his interview. He talks about the wonders of the Capitol, with their fancy showers and extravagant outfits. He talks about the training center, and even the other tributes. When he's asked about me, he pauses.

"Well, she's my best friend. And she's right. We'll do better if we have each other. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, but at least we'll be allies. So, even though we're not Ca—I mean, _volunteers_, it doesn't mean we can't win this!" Shadow walks down after that, and takes a seat next to me. The girl from District 3 replaces him onstage.

"You'll get so many sponsor gifts you'll need an extra backpack!" I whisper.

"What about you? You were great!" Shadow says. I shake my head.

"It was terrifying! You put me to shame," I say. Shadow laughs. Suddenly, he stops.

"Hey, I've been wondering. Why _were_ you picked four times?" he asks. I think quickly of something to tell him.

"The bad kind of luck, I'm guessing," I say with a little smile. Shadow smiles too, and we turn our attention back to the interviews. The girl from 3 is telling us all about her sword-fighting skills.

"I don't think that's a good move, telling everyone about your weapon like that." Shadow says.

"She's a volunteer. I think she'll be all right." I say. We continue watching. A couple of the interviews stand out. The girl from 4 is very formal, and sits stiffly in her chair. She talks about her experience on the ropes course, denying everything. I look over to the girl from 8, who looks ready to start shouting. The girl from 5 refuses to speak. The boy from her district is blind. I feel so sorry for him. He doesn't stand a chance if he can't see. He'll be marked as an easy target. He may even be the first one killed.

Shadow and I have another conversation as the girl from 7 does her interview.

"She's obviously been training her whole life." I point out.

"How do you know?" asks Shadow.

"For crying out loud, she's from District 7! How else would she know so much about fighting?" I exclaim, "Plus, Kiyo told us, remember?" He nods. It's strange, a Career from 7. And very rare. I wonder what she did to earn her 11 in training. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

The girl from 9 gives us a sample of her singing. She said it would be her "talent" after she becomes victor. How come if she's a genius, like Kiyo told us, she made such a foolish mistake? The audience will confused if you tell them all victors have to have a talent. It's just like saying something about "Career" tributes. And the Capitol will get just as angry. She must never pay attention to her mentor to miss something like that. Fortunately, Enobaria hadn't been careless enough to forget this detail. I begin to appreciate Shadow's good save. What would have happened to us in the arena if he hadn't stopped himself? In an hour or so, Bryony is up. She presents the same solemn, superior personality to the Capitol as she did to me. I don't have time wonder if it's only a strategy, though, because we have to leave.

It's strange how quickly time passes sometimes. I'm not very appreciative, though, because the time that's flying now just happens to be my last couple hours before going into the arena to be killed. I take off my interview dress and put on my nightclothes. I wash the makeup off my face and take the ribbons out of my hair. After that, I walk out into the hallway and meet Shadow at the kitchen table. Kiyo isn't there. Shadow looks worried.

"She probably had a job to do," I say.

"But she left a note last time, remember?" He stands up and starts walking through the hallway. I go in the other direction, peeking into both Enobaria's and Ida's rooms before I go back to the kitchen. Shadow comes back a moment later. He sits down at the table. I open the fridge and take out an apple.

"Want one?" I ask. He shakes his head. I sit down next to him and bite into the fruit.

"Where do you think she is?" Shadow asks.

"I don't know. Maybe she forgot to leave a note. Maybe she worked all day, and decided to take a rest instead of coming." I suggest.

"It's our last night here. Wouldn't she come and wish us luck before the Games?" I shrug and walk over to the trash bin to drop my apple core inside. I see something on the floor next to the bin. It's a crumpled piece of paper. I reach down to pick it up.

"What's that?" asks Shadow. My eyes widen as I read the familiar handwriting.

_It's all right. Anyway, 13 exists. The citizens are all in hiding. They live underground. The only ones who know are 13 itself and the Capitol. Now you know too._

It's Kiyo's note. Someone found it.

"What have we done?" I say.


	10. Chapter 10: The Good Kind of Luck

Chapter 10

What happened to Kiyo? I try to convince myself that the note missed the trash can when Kiyo threw it out, but it's hard. Wouldn't it have been picked up and disposed of by now? Five days have passed since that conversation. We're in the Capitol. No trash stays on the floor for long here. Did Kiyo even throw the note away? I have to make myself go to sleep.

When I wake up in the morning, I'm panicking. Partly about Kiyo, of course, but there's another problem today. Only a few more hours until the Hunger Games. Today could be my very last day. Suddenly, I'm very afraid. I've never thought about it that way before. I get the same feeling I had at the reaping. Before I can make any stupid mistakes, Ida knocks on my door and tells me it's time for breakfast. I open up my closet to find the outfit I'll wear in the arena. It's consists of a plain brown T-shirt, pants of the same color, and leather boots with buckles. The jacket has a strange pattern on it. Its main color is orange. I wonder if it's for camouflage. Or the opposite… I hate to think about that. I put on my clothes, along with my token necklace, and go to breakfast. I force myself to eat some food, since it could possibly be the difference between my living or starving. Shadow seems to have the same idea. We nervously glance at each other as Peacekeepers enter the room to lead us away.

"We'll go for the Cornucopia. Grab something close and get out of there. I'll meet you," says Shadow, "Good luck."

"Okay," I say, "Good luck."

After a tracker is injected into my arm, to keep track of my location and tell if I'm alive, I'm taken to the launch room, a small compartment marked "Female 2" right under the arena. The door closes behind me. I notice Perseus sitting at the table, with Frederick, of course.

"Thank you for everything," I say.

"It's no problem. And you don't have to thank me now. I know I'll see you soon," he says. I hear a beeping sound that tells me it's time to enter my tribute tube.

"I wish you luck, Leda. The good kind." He smiles at me and winks. I smile back and step inside the glass cylinder slowly. The opening slides shut behind me. The last thing I see before I enter the arena is Perseus, smiling up at me, stroking Frederick the snake.


	11. Chapter 11: The Arena is Revealed

Chapter 11

Day 1

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let the 73rd Hunger Games begin!"

I squint in the sudden light, so different from the dark of the Launch Room. The scene I see in front of me wouldn't normally be this frightening, but I'm thinking like a tribute now. The first thing I notice is the trees. There are so many of them, and very close together, making it hard to run away. Orange leaves, the same color as our jackets, are scattered across the hard-packed dirt. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing I'll camouflage perfectly. All the tributes are standing in a small clearing. The Cornucopia isn't far away. The ground in front is littered with tiny backpacks. Farther back are the medium sized packs, and then weapons of various sizes and power, many of them stuck into the ground so only their hilts are visible. The Cornucopia itself has a bunch of large backpacks inside, along with some wickedly sharp weapons. As the countdown begins, I scan the area in front of it. There are quite a few swords, which suit many of this year's tributes fine. I focus on a tiny hilt, near the front. It must be a knife. I keep my eyes on my weapon. As the countdown is just reaching the number 3, I hear an explosion that breaks my concentration. I look to my left, and see a cloud of black smoke where the boy from 10's platform should have been. I have no time to process that he's stepped off his pedestal early because the gong rings out, and the 73rd annual Hunger Games have begun.

I race off my pedestal and grab the knife. I look around, frantically searching for a backpack. The Careers have already reached the Cornucopia. I see the boy from 5 run into the forest. He bumps into trees, but somehow ducks under an opponent's blade. What? The girl from 8 dies at the hand of the girl from 4, who wipes the blood off her crooked dagger and grins at her fellow Careers. Revenge. The boy from 3 kills the boy from 7 with his spear. The girl from 7 comes over and punches him in the face, giving him a bloody nose.

"What are you doing?" she yells, "I said to let this one go!" I finally spot a backpack, not too far away. It's closer to the Cornucopia than I would have dared venture if I had the choice. Then again, if I had the choice I wouldn't be here at all. I lunge for the backpack, my hand closing around one of the straps just as the girl from 4 gets there.

"Not today, District 2," she says. She tries to kill me with her dagger. I yank the pack away and dodge the blade multiple times. I can tell she's starting to get frustrated, trying harder and harder. She stabs at my face, and I turn to the side to avoid it. Not fast enough. The dagger cuts me across the cheek. I shout and stumble over a tree root. The girl smiles at me. I stand up quickly just as she strikes again. This time, I block it with my knife. The girl pauses, surprised, but quickly recovers. We keep fighting. I glance at the Cornucopia. Most of the Careers are inside grabbing the best supplies, but the girl from 7 and the boy from 4 are making their way towards Shadow, who's trying to dig a weapon out of the ground. It's in too deep, though, and the Careers are getting closer.

I dodge the girl from 4 again and yell, "Shadow, look out!" Shadow looks up and sees them. He abandons the weapon, still lodged in the earth, and rolls out of the way just as the girl from 7's axe buries itself in the ground. As he tries to get up, the boy from 4 kicks him in the chest and sends him flying backwards. The girl from 7 keeps swinging her axe at him, and cuts his arm as he tries to dodge her. The boy from 4 tries to hit him with a club, but he dives out of the way. Amazingly, Shadow still manages to grab a backpack while dodging their weapons.

The girl from 4 keeps stabbing at me. Before I know it, she has me pinned against a tree. I struggle to get out of her grip, but she's too strong.

"Scared? Don't worry, it'll only hurt for a second." She smirks at me. She raises her weapon high above her head, preparing to strike. I duck down, pulling myself away while she's concentrating, and the dagger pierces the tree. The girl tries to free it, but it's stuck tight. By the time she gets it out, I'm running away. Shadow gets to his feet and runs in the same direction. The girl from 7 and the boy from 4 don't follow him. They go back to the Cornucopia to get themselves some supplies.

We flee the battle together. It's very hard to run without bumping into trees, just as I thought. The cannon goes off seven times, signaling that the bloodbath is over. Seven of us didn't make it out. Shadow keeps running, but I soon fall behind. Gasping for breath, I stumble into a clump of ferns. This is a big mistake. As soon as I touch them, they burst into flames! I start screaming as my clothing catches fire.

"Shadow! Shadow! Help!" I shriek. Shadow runs back to save me. He pushes me to the ground and we try to extinguish the flames. When they go out, my clothes are singed and I'm coughing. Luckily, I'm uninjured, except for a few minor burns.

"We have to keep moving," he says, helping me up, "The smoke and your scream will lead the Careers straight to us." In a few moments, I realize he's right. Two Careers, both tributes from 3, come bursting through the trees. The boy's nose is still bleeding. Shadow, weaponless, fights him with his fists. I take on the girl, dodging her sword. She's as good as she said she was, and I don't get in a single blow with my knife. Eventually, I manage to trip her. She hits her head on the ground and is knocked unconscious. I can't believe my luck! I hear a cannon sound. No! What did I just do? I stop myself from getting hysterical. The girl from 3 is still breathing. When I turn around, her partner is lying on the ground too, blood trickling from the side of his head. Shadow stands over him. My eyes widen.

"I had no choice!" he argues, "He's a Career. He would have killed both of us."

We decide to move on and find a good place to camp for the night. We also decide to leave the Career girl unconscious. I don't want any more tributes to die today. We take the Careers' backpacks and weapons. Shadow scores a sword in this fight, and me a spear. We walk through the forest until we find a good tree. We drop our supplies, four small packs and the spear, in a pile. Shadow goes out to hunt, even though I tell him the Careers would be tracking down tributes. In an attempt to make sure they don't find him, I walk for a minute in the other direction. I take my spear, my knife, and some matches from my backpack with me. I snap the wooden shaft of the spear using a big rock and a tree. I brush away the leaves on the ground, making a circle of dirt. I light the shaft on fire, even though it's still light out, and drop it in the middle of the circle. I don't need the fire. All I need is the smoke. I keep the tip of the spear for survival purposes. Since many of the surrounding trees' branches are too thick to break, I snap off a bunch of twigs and toss them in the fire, too. I even throw in a couple leaves for good measure. Then, I walk back to our camp. Shadow comes back in a few minutes with three dead rabbits.

"Do we cook them?" he asks.

"Well, I made a fire over there. It should still be going if you want to-"

"Why did you make a fire? It's not even dark! Or cold! It's like sending up a flare!"

"Exactly! I made it to lead the Careers away from you. I told you, this is when they hunt down the other tributes!" I argue.

"Well…all right. Let's go over there to cook the rabbits. We have to be careful, though."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and no one saw the smoke." I say. But I still bring my knife, just in case. I lead Shadow over to the fire, which is slowly dying. He is dismayed when he makes out the shaft of the spear in the ashes.

"There were plenty of good branches to make a fire with! Why did you use the spear?" I shrug this time, upset that he's getting mad at me.

"Listen. We won't even make it through the night if we don't stop fighting. We have to work together. Don't worry, I kept the spearhead. And we don't need a spear, anyway. I won't use it. You won't use it. Why should be keep it around for other tributes to steal?" Shadow sees the reason in this and starts to cook the rabbits. The fire is so weak; they take a long time to cook. It's dark by the time we eat. No Careers have found us. We head back to our tree. I have to help Shadow up, since he isn't a good climber. We tie ourselves in with rope from our backpacks. We even discover two sleeping bags in the Careers' packs! The sky lights up with the Capitol's seal, the anthem plays, and we watch the faces of the fallen tributes. First up is the boy from 3. Then, the boy from 4. It's very unusual that two Careers were killed on the first day. The girl from 5, the boy from 7, the girl from 8, both tributes from 10, and the boy from 11 died, too. The seal is shown one last time before the light vanishes. Somehow, we manage to fall asleep.


	12. Chapter 12: The Lone Career

Chapter 12

Day 2

Today, we take a look at our supplies. We empty out the contents of our four backpacks on the ground. We end up with some matches, a couple lengths of rope, three dry water bottles, two sleeping bags, three microscopic first-aid kits, one good-sized bag of dried fruit, and four sheets of plastic. We dispose of the two extra packs and try to figure out how to divide the supplies between the two of us.

"We can each take a sleeping bag, a rope, a water bottle, two sheets of plastic, and a first aid kit," says Shadow, "We'll divide the matches. As for the remaining first aid kit, we can divide that, too. And the fruit. What about the last water bottle?" Shadow says.

"What if you take the water bottle and I take the fruit? If we're separated, since you're the better hunter, I'll have some food and you'll have water." I suggest.

"Okay," says Shadow. Apparently, he took what I said, about not fighting, to heart. It's a pleasant change, him listening to my advice.

"Speaking of water," he continues, "Let's find some."

We search for a lake or pond, but we don't even see a puddle. The closest to water we get all morning is some kind of riverbed, and it's bone dry. We give up our search soon after discovering the river, and start preparing for rainfall. There's little chance it will rain, but now it seems like our only way to get water. And we need it soon. I'm horribly tired, even though I had almost a full night's sleep, and I'm beginning to get a headache. I climb high into the trees to spread our four sheets of plastic out on the upper branches. I almost fall out of one when two cannon blasts rock the arena.

"Who was that?" I wonder.

"I guess we'll find out tonight," replies Shadow grimly.

After working hard, we enjoy some of our dried fruit. Then, we go to hunt and gather food. Shadow hunts, of course, and I gather. I can't find a single plant I recognize! I keep finding strange clumps of purple flowers, but they don't look edible to me. I find a little tree with some round orange fruits that look a lot like peaches. I'm just reaching up to pick one when I hear a cough behind me.

"You'll be dead in seconds if you eat that," someone says. I gasp and turn around to see a Career boy slumped down against a tree. I recognize him from the Training Center. He's the boy from District 1. Though it's only the second day, he's covered in dirt. He's obviously in a lot of pain. A bandage is wrapped around his head, already stained with blood. He closes his eyes tightly. It looks like he's waiting for me to strike.

"What happened?" I ask, even though the best thing to do probably is to run away. The boy opens his eyes again. He looks puzzled, like he wasn't expecting me to start a conversation.

"The boy from 11. We fought at the Cornucopia. The others thought I would slow them down. They left me here last night," he says. Last night? He's lucky that no one found him. The more I think about it, the more doubtful it seems. I stay back, in case this is part of a plan.

"Is this some kind of trick? Are your volunteer tribute friends hiding in the bushes, waiting to take me out?" I say angrily.

"No," he says, "They're probably on the other side of the arena by now."

"I don't know. We're a pretty long distance from the Cornucopia here. How did you manage to get this far?" I ask.

"Um…I was…unconscious. They carried me most of the way," he says reluctantly. He looks away from me, embarrassed. I'm not sure whether to trust him. Would a Career tell me something like that? So far, no one has attacked, so I step closer. I walk around his tree, making sure he has no weapon. When I finish, I call for Shadow. He runs over, expecting some kind of battle. His sword is drawn. Instead of angry or scared, he just looks confused when he sees me standing there, talking with a Career.

"What…?" I can see Shadow can't think of one question to ask in the millions probably forming in his head right now.

"I think we need to talk in private. I'm sorry," I tell the boy from 1. I pull Shadow aside.

"Why are you talking to a Career?" he asks, "Why didn't he attack as soon as he saw you?"

"He's injured. The boy from 11 cut him at the Cornucopia, and the rest of the volunteers left him here to die," I say, "We have to help him."

"We can't, Leda. If we just go around saving every injured tribute we find, we'll end up dead. And we have limited first-aid supplies," he says, shaking his head.

"But he's different. He's not like the other volunteers, and you know it. He would make a good ally, too. Neither of us can identify edible plants. Remember how good he was at the Training Center?" I ask.

"What about you? You're good, too!" he argues.

"Do you want a 71% chance of living every time you eat?" I ask, "I'd be dead if he wasn't here. I would have eaten poisonous fruit, from that tree over there. And we can't just leave him."

"Okay, fine. Let's help him," says Shadow.

We walk back over to where the boy is sitting.

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't have come back over here if you planned to take off," he says, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you helped me," I say matter-of-factly.

We unwrap the bandages on his forehead to find a nasty gash, most likely from the blade of a sword. It's pretty deep, and it's still bleeding. I try my best to stop the flow of blood with some gauze from one of the first-aid kits.

"My name is Leda. This is Shadow." I say. The boy nods.

"Hold still," I tell him.

"I know you two. 8 and 6, right?" he points at each of us as he says our training scores. "District 2."

"Yeah," I say, surprised, "How did you…"

"My allies and I tried to learn about our competition. We figured, since you're from 2…"

"That we'd be Careers." Shadow finishes.

"What?" asks the boy.

"He means volunteers." I say.

"Oh, yeah. But when we saw the film of the reaping…" he says. I blush bright red. "Never mind," he says, seeing my expression, "My name is Luster." Oh, he's definitely from District 1. I wrap a bandage around his head to keep the gauze in place.

"There," I say, "Finished."

"It's getting dark," Shadow says, "We should head back." I nod my head and turn back to Luster.

"Allies?" I say.

"Thought you'd never ask," says Luster.

Getting Luster back to our tree proves to be a challenge. We help him up, but he immediately crumples to the ground again, unconscious. We try to carry him back to our camp, but he's too heavy for even the two of us.

"Why don't we find a closer tree?" suggests Shadow, "Like this one?"

"Sounds good," I say, "You lift him from the ground and I'll pull him onto a branch?" Shadow nods.

We soon find out that it's easier said than done. It takes a long time for us to pull Luster onto even the lowest limb of the tree. We eventually get him up about ten feet in the air. Then I help Shadow climb up, too.

We settle into our own branches as soon as Luster is tied into his. He doesn't have any supplies with him, so I sacrifice my rope. Shadow and I decided to alternate. Since we're so low to the ground, we need to keep watch.

The girl from 3 and the boy from 6 have died. Luster wakes up just as the Capitol's seal disappears.

"Whoa!" he exclaims when he sees where he is.

"We decided to put you in a tree for the night," explains Shadow, "It's safer up here. Want some dried fruit?" Luster nods and accepts a handful.

"Did I miss the…" he gestures to the sky.

"Yeah," I say, "It was the girl from 3 and the boy from 6." He looks confused.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"They're both volunteers…" he says, "That means, not counting me, there's only two left in our alliance."

"Who?" asks Shadow.

"The girl from my district, Flash, and the girl from District 7, Cacelia."

"District 7?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's strange that she's a volunteer. Even though she was alone in her district, she trained to fight in the Games before she was even eligible to compete. You should probably keep your distance from her, because she can throw that axe as well as she can swing it." He nods at Shadow. Luster must have seen Cacelia attack him at the Cornucopia.

"There were a lot of tributes in our alliance not from volunteer districts, like the ones from 3. Some of them weren't even volunteers, like the boy from 6," he continues, "Cacelia just _had_ to have him and his partner in our group when she saw them fighting with swords. I think it's because she just wanted some more tributes from the other districts here. And the boy joined us. The girl refused." He suddenly gets a very angry look on his face. "We tried to get rid of her at the Cornucopia, and I actually got a chance to fight her, but she got away when the boy from 11 attacked me. I hope the others are tracking her down." Luster seems nice enough, if not a little…Careerish, but it's unnerving how badly he wants revenge. Talking about the Cornucopia battle, I have another thought.

"What about the girl from 4? Isn't she a volunteer?" I wonder.

"You mean Iela? She is," says Luster, "But she went off on her own after her district partner was killed at the Cornucopia." I nod.

"Let's get some sleep," I say, "I'll take first watch."

"No," says Luster, "I will." He unties himself and hands me my rope.

"Get some sleep." Shadow and I nod and settle into our sleeping bags. Before I sleep, I sit up again. Luster looks over at me. I take off my orange jacket and toss it to him.

"Since you don't have a sleeping bag," I say, and then lie back down, "Wake me up in a few hours." Luster puts my jacket over his shoulders like a blanket and leans back against the tree.

The next thing I'm aware of is Luster tapping my shoulder.

"Leda," he says, "Your turn to keep watch."  
"Oh," I say, "Here, tie yourself in." I untie myself from the tree and hand the rope to Luster.

"Thanks," he says. He ties himself in and lies down.

After a while, my eyelids start to get heavy. I'm just about to drift off when I hear the unmistakable sound of crunching leaves. Footsteps. Voices. I see a little ball of fire that must be a torch. They're definitely Careers. Who else would talk this loudly in the middle of the night, when other tributes could be hiding in every shadow? Why are they here? It can't be a coincidence. I sit as still as possible, hoping the leaves have hidden me well. In a couple minutes, the torchlight disappears. I start to shake Shadow's shoulder.

"Shadow," I whisper, "Shadow!"

"What is it?" he says drowsily.

"I just heard some tributes walk by," I say, 'Do you think Luster might be signaling the other volunteers?"

"What? Why would he do that?" asks Shadow.

"This could be all part of a trap! He could have signaled them when he was keeping watch!" I say.

"Leda. Luster isn't signaling the Careers. He's part of our alliance now. Remember, you were the one who decided to trust him. Don't you still? After all he told us about the Careers tonight?" Shadow says. I nod my head, though I doubt Shadow can see it.

"You're right. This is crazy. I'm sorry, Shadow. Go back to sleep." Shadow gladly obliges, and soon I'm alone again. I rub my eyes, determined to stay awake.

In another hour or so, the Careers are back. This time, they've walked right under our tree.

"Why isn't he here?" asks a girl's voice. She doesn't bother whispering. Through the branches that conceal my allies and I, I can see two girls standing a short distance away. The one who has just spoken is holding the torch. I remember her voice from the interviews. She's the girl from District 1. Flash, Luster had called her.

"I don't know. See that tree over there? That's where we left him. And there are marks in the dirt here…. Someone must have dragged him. He should be over here," says the other girl. I can't see her very well, but she must be the girl from 7. Cacelia. The two remaining members of the Career pack have found our hiding place.

"He could be up in one of these trees," Flash suggests.

"There's no way he could have climbed," says Cacelia, "He would have needed help. And you can't make allies if you're passed out on the ground."

"Let's go back to the camp," says Flash, yawning, "We probably don't have to bother looking for him anymore."

"Yeah," agrees Cacelia, "We won't have any trouble finishing him off if we have to, even if he's conscious long enough for a fight." Flash starts laughing, and the two Careers walk off. Luster was telling the truth the entire time. I feel horrible. As soon as their voices fade away, I wake Shadow again.

"What?" he asks.

"You were right. The Careers came back. They were looking for Luster. Not because he signaled him, but because they want to kill him! I can't believe I didn't trust him!" I say.

"They must have noticed when his face wasn't in the sky tonight," he says, yawning.

"Yeah," I say, "I'm sorry I woke you up again. You can go back to sleep."

"It's okay. And since I'm wide awake now, why don't I keep watch?"

"Thanks," I say gratefully, closing my eyes.


	13. Chapter 13: In Which it Rains

Chapter 13

Day 3

I wake up the next morning when a drop of water falls on my face. Then another. Then another. I open my eyes to see the leaves fluttering about in the rain. The sky is filled with gray clouds. In our mostly-dry tree, protected by the many leaves and branches overhead, we eat the rest of the rabbits Shadow killed.

"Don't worry," he says, "We'll hunt some more when the rain stops. For now, we have to set up containers to collect water."

"And get water from the ones we set up already," I add. We start to take the water bottles from our backpacks.

"We can use the first-aid kits, too. We'll just empty them out. And what about the bag of dried fruit?" suggests Luster.

"Perfect," says Shadow. He digs the containers out of the packs. We start to climb down the tree.

"Luster," I say, "Maybe you ought to stay here." For a second, it looks like he's going to object, but he just nods. I arm him with my spearhead.

"What happened to the spear?" he asks.

"It's a long story," I say, smiling.

"Oh! Here's your jacket back," he says, handing it to me. I put my arms into the sleeves and zip it up.

"Thanks," I say, "See you."

"See you," he says back.

I climb down to the bottom of the tree, where Shadow is waiting for me. I look up at the sky, smiling.

"This is fantastic!" I say.

"You said it," says Shadow. We start walking around, setting up containers for the water. I climb high into the trees to get our sheets of plastic, which have together collected enough for all three of our water bottles. We take a break to sit down on a fallen tree. We drink, and I feel better immediately. The headache I noticed this morning eventually subsides, and my vision is no longer fogged by dehydration.

"Best day ever," I say.

"If you don't count any day we're not fighting for our lives, of course," says Shadow.

"We aren't today," I remind him.

"Ah, but it's still early," he says. I laugh. Then, I stop.

"What is it?" Shadow asks me.

"It's just…you've been acting so differently in the past few days. Now, it's like nothing happened. Why?"

"Why was I acting different or why am I acting like nothing happened?" he asks.

"Both," I decide.

"I don't know," he says, "I guess I've never been so focused on my survival before. But today, we have water, we'll have no problem getting food, we've got a new ally, and we haven't seen one other tribute today. It's terrific!" He grins, and I start laughing again.

"And what about you?" he asks, "Where did these survival skills come from? If we leave out that incident where you almost ate poisonous peaches, of course. And climbing trees! What about that?" I smile.

"I don't know. The Training Center, maybe?" I say, "Let's go get our water. Luster will probably be wondering where we are."

"Okay," says Shadow. "Hey, do we get to eat lunch today?"

"Only if you feel like finishing off the dried fruit." I say.

"Let's do it," he says, "But we should save some for Luster."

"Yeah," I say, "Let's wait until we get back to the tree." We collect a few of our containers and carry the water back together. Luster waves when he sees us. After I'm on my branch, he helps me pull Shadow up. He's very strong, and probably could have done it without me, even in his current state.

"Got some water?" he asks.

"Yeah," Shadow says, "Here." He hands Luster a water bottle and some dried fruit.

"It's lunchtime," I explain. He nods and drinks some of his water. We dry off in the shelter of the tree as the rain comes down around us.

"Did anything happen while we were gone?" I ask.

"Nope," says Luster, "Anything happen while I was here?"

"No," I respond, "No attacks at all!"

"Maybe the Gamemakers decided to give us a break," suggests Shadow.

"Could be," says Luster, "But it's only the third day. Maybe they're giving us a chance to let our guard down before they set something horrible on us."

"Let's not think about it that way," I say. It's an unspoken decision that we will keep our guard down today. We'll rest in our tree and regain some strength for the days to come.

We talk for a while longer. We empty one of our water containers, and I climb up the tree to set it up to collect more rain. When I get up, though, the rain has subsided suddenly.

"It's stopped!" I call down to Shadow and Luster. I leave the container at the top, in case it rains again, and climb back down.

"What do you say we go to sleep early tonight?" I ask, "I'll take first watch." Luster and Shadow nod. I give Luster my jacket again, and Shadow lies down in his sleeping bag. I lean against the tree and ready myself for a few hours of loneliness. When the Capitol seal finally appears in the sky, I wake my allies. The anthem finishes, and no pictures come up.

"No deaths," Shadow says.

"Cacelia and Flash must have been distracted today," says Luster. It crosses my mind that he could have heard my conversation with Shadow last night. I hope not.

"I guess everyone was busy collecting water," I say.

"Must be," says Luster.

"I'll keep watch. Go to sleep, you two," says Shadow. I nod and lie down in my sleeping bag.


	14. Chapter 14: Lackluster

Chapter 14

Day 4

In the morning, we leave our tree to collect the rest of our water. As he's sliding off the lowest branch, Luster has a suggestion for us.

"After we bring the water back here, let's go hunting for tributes. We can kill the girl from 6."

"We shouldn't go looking for trouble like that," says Shadow, "If you want revenge, you'll have to wait."

"And you're certainly not in any state to fight," I say. He looks over to where I'm pointing and notices his hands, which are still holding onto the tree branch to keep him standing upright.

"All right," he says, "So let's go get the water."

"Are you sure you're okay to come?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says. He lets go of the branch and takes a step. He stumbles and Shadow and I rush forward to catch him.

"I think it's better if you stay in the tree," says Shadow.

"No! I want to help!" he says. I can see the humiliation in his expression. Being out of action isn't something he prepared for. He doesn't want to spend the Games he trained for his entire life relying on his allies to find food and water.

"If you say so," Shadow says. Luster takes a few steps forward, and then collapses. Shadow and I are too late to catch him before he hits the ground.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he says, "Here, help me up." Once he's standing again, we each take one of his arms. Leaning on us, he makes it pretty far before he needs to rest. We've reached the spot where we set up most of our water containers, so I start to climb up the trees to get them.

"She's good," Luster says to Shadow as I make my way up.

"Yeah," responds Shadow, "I can't climb well at all. Can you?"

"I suppose I could try…" he says, "But not now." They both laugh.

"Got it!" I call. I climb back down.

"Right!" says Luster, "Where to next?"

"This one," I say, pointing at another tree, a few feet away, "Then, we find food."

After I get the water down, we return to our camp and store it in the bushes. By this time, Luster has regained his ability to walk without help, which he seems happy about.

"Alright," says Shadow, "I'll go hunt. Luster, you can gather with Leda. It's not because we don't think you can hunt. But we saw you indentifying plants in the Training Center. You're really good at it." Luster nods, pleased with the compliment. Shadow walks through the uniform trees of the forest, looking for rabbits and squirrels. Luster and I travel toward that dry riverbed, where there's a variety of different plants.

"These are safe," he tells me, pointing at the purple flowers, "In fact, they sometimes have water inside of them." He peels back one of the petals.

"Wow!" I exclaim, "Now we don't have to wait for the rain! What about these?" I point at a small bush covered in dark purple berries.

"Nightlock," he says, "Very deadly. Don't you have it in District 2?" I shake my head.

"And these are safe," Luster continues, "They taste pretty good, too." He picks a handful of green leaves from a bush.

"So…nightlock," I point to a bush, "Very deadly. And these leaves are safe." I point to another plant.

"Actually," Luster says, "Those are blueberries. Very safe. And that's poison ivy. You don't want to eat that."

"Oh," I say, "Thanks. How about these?"

"Safe. Safe. Poisonous." I nod my head. We start to fill our packs with roots, berries, and herbs. Luster teaches me how to identify many of the plants in this area.

"See, the difference between blueberries and nightlock is the juice. Nightlock 's easier to break, and it stains your fingers. Be sure to wash it off as soon as you test it."

"When you see a plant like this, don't pick it if it has these little thorns under the leaves, okay?"

"Don't eat a plant that looks like this unless it has more than nine leaves. These two look very similar, and it's easy to get confused."

"Where did you learn so much about plants?" This time it's me talking. Luster pauses. He leans toward me and whispers in my ear.

"They offer a course on plants at the volunteer school. Not many of us take it," he whispers, barely audible. I hope the microphones undoubtedly hidden everywhere didn't hear that. I nod.

"So, do you think we have enough?" I ask. Before he can answer, Shadow comes through the trees.

"I got a bird, but nothing else," he says sadly. He holds up a dead bird not much larger than a pigeon.

"At least you got something," I say. He nods and puts it in his backpack.

"Why don't I take over hunting for a while? Leda can teach you about edible plants," Luster says.

"Okay," he says, "Do you want to take my sword?" Luster shakes his head.

"Don't need it," he says, holding up his spearhead. As he walks away, I glance at Shadow, raising an eyebrow. Shadow shrugs.

I've only had time to show Shadow the difference between blueberries and nightlock when Luster returns. He's killed four rabbits with only the spearhead! Since he doesn't have his own backpack, he puts two in each of ours.

"There," he says. Then, he shows Shadow and I more about plants. He decides we're ready to split up.

"Let's meet back here in ten minutes," says Shadow.

"Okay," says Luster, "Just be careful, and don't eat anything until then." He gives us a grin and disappears into the trees. Shadow walks away in the other direction. I stay where I am. As I work, the pocket of my backpack fills up with plants. Suddenly, I hear a shout. It's very close by. I'm standing there in the silence that follows, unsure whether to run towards or away from the sound, when I realize I recognize the voice. It was _Luster_! I run as fast as I can through the trees. _Thud!_ I slam into Shadow at top speed. We're both thrown back onto the ground.

"Ow," Shadow says, rubbing his head. I spring to my feet and help him up.

"It's Luster. He may be in trouble. Come on!" I start pulling on his arm.

After about a minute of running, we're thrown into a sudden bright light. There aren't any trees here. I'm about to keep going, when I realize there's nowhere to go. The ground falls away into a steep cliff after just a few feet. I look off to my left and find Luster in the middle of a fight. I can just barely see the girl from 4, Iela, stabbing at him with her dagger. We start racing towards them, ready to fight, but they're so far away. I see that Luster, who couldn't stand on his own a few hours ago, is using all the skills he undoubtedly learned in his years of training, even with only the tip of a spear for a weapon. Iela dodges his blows, though, and strikes back jut as quickly. He should be doing wonderfully, but he's still weak, and Iela's too fast. She almost fights circles around him, eventually forcing him to retreat to the edge of the cliff. We're just forty feet away. Thirty. Twenty. Iela ducks under Luster's spear-tip, throwing him off balance. Before he can regain his footing, she puts her dagger in his side. Luster gasps and falls backwards. We're still ten feet away when he hits the rocks below.


	15. Chapter 15: We Run Into Trouble

Chapter 15

"Luster!" I scream, but my voice is lost in the cannon that sounds. It's too late.

"No!" Shadow yells, and runs toward Iela, swinging his sword. I follow close behind with my knife. She's surprised by the two other tributes that suddenly appear. I guess she thought Luster was alone. I stab at her as she tries to run away, but I only tear her jacket. I swing the blade around at her face, and end up giving her a cut on her cheek. It looks similar to the one she gave me, which just makes me angrier. Iela is also having trouble dodging Shadow's sword. She keeps running into trees, distracted. She turns in our direction and tries to fend us off with her dagger, but soon realizes that she can't do it alone. She turns to run again, and I watch as Shadow's sword slices through the air, aiming for her head. She ducks just in time. The blade misses her, but only just. The swing cuts off the bun at the top of her head. She darts away, only looking back to glare at us. She outruns both of us easily. Falling behind, we watch her disappear from sight.

I sit on a rock, tears blurring my vision. Shadow sits down next to me. I can tell he's about to say something, probably trying to comfort me. No. I can't be the weak link. I can't leave him the job of helping me cope with Luster's death when Luster was his ally, too. I stand up before he can even open his mouth.

"We have to keep going. Come on. The Careers will find us if we stay here too long," I say. I don't cry. I lead the way.

We've almost made it back to our tree when we hear voices. No, not just voices. They're screams for help. Normally, we might have ignored them, but not now. Not right after Luster's death. We run toward the shouts until we see the tributes from 12, Bryony and her partner. I immediately regret coming when we see the pack of muttations cornering them. They're golden deer, which wouldn't sound scary unless I describe their horns. It looks almost like someone has replaced them with harpoons. They're over three feet long on the smallest deer, pointed like spears, each equipped with multiple barbs. There are ten deer in all, not counting the few that already lie dead on the ground. Bryony is shooting the muttations with her arrows, but it doesn't seem to affect them at all. They bounce right off. The deers' coats protect them like armor. But there's another reason why Bryony's weapons aren't working. She's run out of arrows, and has resorted to using tree branches sharpened to a dull point. She must have made more, preparing for an incident like this. The metal arrows are stuck in a few fallen muttations, far out of her reach. These deer attack the tributes by charging them. Bryony and her district partner have to dive out of the way to escape being pierced by their horns. I notice that Bryony is doing most of the fighting. The boy is swinging around his sword, but usually missing. Bryony protects him, though, distracting the deer with her arrows. Around this time, the deer start to take notice of Shadow and I. A couple of them turn around to face us. One of them starts making its way toward me. Shadow takes this opportunity to step in with his sword. The blade rips through their metallic hide, leaving an opening for my knife or one of Bryony's arrows. Soon enough, five of the deer are dead. I'm just taking out the sixth when one of the final four charges the boy from 12. He tries to jump out of the way, but isn't quite fast enough. He's impaled by the deer's horns, and his cannon goes off.

Bryony screams something unintelligible, the boy's name, I think. She starts crying. I barely recognize her in tears. After shaking the boy's body off and leaving him on the ground, the deer keeps fighting. The deer are taking turns charging Shadow and I, leaving us no time to fight back. Bryony, however, is shooting like mad, even releasing several arrows at a time. Did she do this to get her 10 in training? She deserved higher, definitely. She manages to get hold of a few metal arrows again, and three more deer are dead in minutes. She realizes she's run out of arrows just as the final deer, the largest one with menacing horns at least four feet long, traps her. Before it can charge her, Shadow does something completely unexpected. He races over to the muttation and leaps onto its back. The creature thrashes around wildly, trying hard to throw Shadow off. Bryony and I are paralyzed with fear, watching the scene. Before either of us can react, the deer flings Shadow off its back. He goes flying into a tree.

"Shadow!" I shout. He doesn't answer me. I look down at my feet and notice his sword, which had been flung in the other direction when he fell. One look at the deer turning in my direction tells me that my knife won't do the job. I pick up the sword. It feels heavy in just one hand, so I grip it tightly with both. The deer begins to charge. I sidestep at the last second. The muttation slams into the tree a moment before Shadow's sword, in my hands, swings around to kill it. The deer falls, and the attack has ended.

Bryony and I both run to our district partners. As I struggle to rouse Shadow, I hear her begging her district partner to wake up. She's still crying. Shadow opens his eyes.

"They're dead? The mutts?" he asks. I nod and help him up. We turn around to see Bryony sitting next to the boy from 12's body, sobbing. I walk over and offer to help her up, too, but she stands on her own. She rips two metal arrows out of the nearest deer, and loads her bow. Two arrows for two targets. I step back.

Her voice is shaky as she says, "You're too much of a threat." She obviously would rather run away and cry for her partner. Ten seconds or so pass. She still isn't shooting. Tears are still rolling down her face. Without warning, Shadow trips her. She gives a gasp and falls to the ground. I'm surprised when a cannon sounds—surely she didn't hit her head that hard—but then discover that she was pierced by one of her own arrows. Though Shadow apologizes, I can't blame him for saving our lives. We pick up a few of the metal arrows and put them in our packs, even though they stick out the top. We break the bow, because neither of us find it useful.

"Do we take the deer?" I ask.

"I guess so. It would save us hunting…"

"Can we _eat_ muttations?" I wonder, making a face. Somehow, I don't think these creatures were designed to be food. Shadow shrugs.

"Let's hunt," he says. We leave the deer and go hunting. After a few minutes, I go off in another direction to get some edible plants. As soon as I get far enough away, I start to cry. We could have saved Luster. I know it. If I had run a little faster, or spent a little less time trying to recognize his voice, I could have gotten there in time. I'm so distracted; I almost drop a handful of poison ivy into my pack. I yelp as I realize what I'm doing, and fling the leaves into the bushes. I examine my hand, but it doesn't look any different. I give up on collecting plants and join Shadow, who's killed two birds and a rabbit. We walk back to our camp together. As I fill our water bottles with the last of our rainwater, Shadow starts to make a fire.

"You think we should move our camp tomorrow? We've been here a while. Someone could find us," Shadow says. I nod

"Yeah. Tomorrow," I say. I sit down next to him by the fire and hand him his water bottle.

"Thanks," he says, "We also need some more water, I think."

"There's some plants around that collect water," I tell him, "They'll probably be full from the rainfall…Luster showed me where they are." We sit in silence for a while. Shadow cooks our food, and I watch for tributes.

"I think it's done," Shadow says finally, "Here." He hands me a piece of rabbit.

"No thanks," I say, "Not hungry."

"You have to eat something," he says. I shake my head.

"Tomorrow morning," I say. I start climbing up the tree. As I settle onto my branch, zipping up my sleeping bag, I watch the Capitol seal appear in the sky. The anthem begins to play. Luster's face comes up, followed by Bryony and her district partner. I almost start crying again, but I catch myself. This might be the very reason we haven't gotten any sponsor gifts yet. I try to stay strong, but I can't stop myself from thinking about Luster's death. How he fell all that way, to hit the rocks at the bottom. Was that the edge of the arena? He could have even hit the forcefield! I shake my head, clearing the possibility from my mind. I want to go home. It may seem childish, but only to everyone outside of the arena. My hand goes up to my necklace, the only thing I have to remind me of a place outside the Games. But my token isn't there.


	16. Chapter 16: The Riverbed

Chapter 16

Day 5

The next morning, Shadow and I eat the rest of the birds and the rabbit, along with some edible plants. I double check to make sure that no poison ivy leaves made it into the pack. Poison ivy… I look at my hand and curse myself under my breath. There are bright red steaks across my palm already. Now that I've noticed it, it's itching incredibly. I let out a sigh of exasperation.

"What is it?" Shadow asks. I hold up my hand.

"Poison ivy," I say, "I accidentally picked some yesterday." Shadow immediately spits out the herb he's eating, and I start laughing.

"It's okay. I triple checked the plants, I promise." I say. Shadow puts on a smile, but it disappears just as quickly.

"Where's your necklace?" he asks, holding up his own. I was trying not to look downhearted today, but I must not have been doing a very good job.

"I don't know. The string probably broke. It's okay," I say.

"All right…" he says, "Ready to find a new tree?"

"Yeah," I say, "Let's go." We put our empty containers back inside our packs, untie our sleeping bags from the tree, and leave our old camp behind. After walking a while, we come across the dry riverbed we found a few days ago on our fruitless search for water. It's a strange shape, for a river. It seems to be a perfectly straight half-cylinder, cutting through the arena as far as I can see in both directions. We decide to take a look. The dust and dirt covering the riverbed makes it a little slippery, so Shadow almost slides down the steep side.

"What do you think this is?" he says.

"Some sort of river, I guess," I say.

"With no water?" he wonders, "Maybe it's something else…" I shrug and jump down to join him in the riverbed. The dust flies up as I hit the ground. Coughing, I stand and wipe the dirt off my jacket. We start exploring. I'm inspecting a couple strange plants growing on the edge of the riverbed when Shadow calls out to me.

"Leda! Come over here!" he says. I turn around and see him trying to drive his sword into the ground.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I can't dig in it!" he says.

"Why would you want to?" I ask bewilderedly.

"I'm thinking, maybe this riverbed serves another purpose. We should set up our camp around here, and maybe it'll turn out to be helpful," he suggests.

"Or maybe it's one of the horrors the Gamemakers have set up for us! Or maybe it's just a riverbed, a prop. You're crazy," I tell him, though he's already trying to dig in the dirt again. It's still not working. I do find it unusual, but that doesn't mean it's helpful. Suddenly, I hear a sound. I can't identify it immediately. It's certainly not caused by a tribute, or any muttation I can imagine. All I know is that it's coming straight toward us.

"Shadow, I hear something," I say. He hears the panic in my voice and stands up.

"What is it?" he asks.

"I don't know." The sound is getting louder. I know from the look on Shadow's face that he can hear it, too. I look up to see a gigantic wall of water barreling toward us.

"Leda, RUN!" Shadow yells. I scramble to the edge of the riverbed, Shadow not far behind. We're not fast enough, though, because the water washes over us both.


	17. Chapter 17: Lost

Chapter 17

For a moment I'm engulfed in not only water, but hysteria. I kick and flail my arms, though I'm completely underwater. I pull myself together when I remember that I can't breathe. I twist around and swim with all my strength toward the direction I think leads to the surface. I come up coughing and climb up onto dry land, trying not to be swept away by the powerful current. I struggle to pull myself up and start yelling, though I'm still gasping for breath.

"Shadow! Shadow!" I shout. For a second, I spot him, being carried downstream. Suddenly, he's pulled under. When I hear the cannon fire, I know I've lost him.

"No!" I cry out. I break into sobs, not caring what my sponsors think of me. Soon, the water level of the river lowers, and the ground begins to dry up again. My knees buckle and I kneel by the side of the river. Shadow's gone. My district partner. My ally. My best friend. I could have stayed there all day, crying for him, but I know that I have to keep moving. Do the Careers think everyone's a threat, now that there are just eleven of us left? It probably won't stop them from considering me an easy target, especially if just I sit here waiting for them.

I walk alongside the damp riverbed, which I now assume is just a big chute for the water to come down. I look for more plants, wringing out my clothes as I go. I have plenty in my backpack, but I'm in no shape to attempt hunting.

Something catches my eye. It's a shiny piece of metal, glinting in the sunlight. But it's not the metal object that leads me back into the riverbed. It's the tribute lying with it. As I get closer, I realize that it's Iela. She's soaking wet. She's lying flat on the ground. And she's clearly dead. She's…drowned. That can't be right. She's from District 4! Tributes from the fishing district are known to be good swimmers. Sometimes this skill even wins them the Games. I walk over to Iela's body to take her supplies. When I pick up her backpack, I find it incredibly heavy. Its weight must have dragged her under the water. I find that the metal object I saw was a frying pan, tied to the outside of her backpack with string.

I open the pack and start removing its contents. A sleeping bag. A first aid kit. A half-full water bottle. A box of soggy crackers. There's much more inside, too. She must have brought everything with her. I keep digging through the pack, and find her crooked dagger. It looks out of place in my hand. And she's kept the blade so clean, it's almost hard to believe it was used to hurt anybody. I look over at Iela. Her hair is still in that uneven haircut Shadow gave her by the cliffs, after she murdered Luster. In a rage, I hurl her dagger into the trees. I keep going through her supplies. I take out a rather pointy stick, snapped in half. That's odd. It looks a little like one of Bryony's arrows. Next, I find something even more peculiar. It's my token! I pick it up and fasten it around my neck. The stick. My necklace. Was Iela tracking Shadow and I? And she was so close behind us. She died in the same wave that killed… wait… How come I didn't realize it before? There was only one cannon. And Shadow's still alive.


	18. Chapter 18: The Girl From Seven

Chapter 18

I stash some of Iela's heavier supplies in the bushes and put her pack on over my own. Then, I set out to find Shadow. This is the first chance I have to take a look at my new surroundings. Just as I've gotten used to our part of the arena, the wave has swept me into an unfamiliar place. The same trees and plants grow here, and as far as I know the same animals live here, but the problem is finding out which tributes are here.

In an hour or two, I do find out. I see movement in the forest, the flash of a weapon, I think. I hide behind a tree to watch. Cacelia is fighting the girl from 11. Kiyo was right. She is pretty good with that knife. But that doesn't stop Cacelia from taking her out with a battle axe. The cannon sounds. As Cacelia takes the girl's backpack and weapon, I step back and break a twig with my foot. Cacelia stands up and turns around fast.

"Who's there?" she asks. For a second, I see fear in her eyes. But when no one answers, she composes herself.

"Show yourself now!" she yells. No one comes out, of course, so she lowers her weapon and walks away. She's calling for Flash. With Luster and Iela both dead, they're the only Careers left.

I come out of hiding. My worst fears have become a reality. I've been swept right into the middle of the Careers' territory. Maybe I'll get lucky and find Shadow today, and we can go somewhere else. I pick some of the berries I know to be safe, making sure they aren't poisonous before they go inside my backpack. The poison ivy on my hand is a reminder to always double check. After a few minutes of picking (and eating) berries, I set out to search for Shadow again.

I don't find him. I walk until the sky grows dark. I find a different tree to spend the night. Since neither Luster nor Shadow is with me now, I climb up to the highest branches before I set up my sleeping bag. I'm much smaller than either of them. I'm also much smaller than Cacelia and Flash, so I'll be very safe up here, with no need to keep watch.

I eat the rest of my berries, along with some of the beef jerky from Iela's pack, as I watch the faces in the sky. Iela, and then the girl from 11. Not Shadow. He would have been first. I'm so tired I fall asleep before the anthem finishes playing.


	19. Chapter 19: The Geniuses

Chapter 19

Day 6

In the morning, the first thing I see is a silver parachute caught in the branches of my tree. I untangle my sponsor gift from the fabric.

"I thought you had forgotten about me," I say to Enobaria, as well as any sponsors I have, "Thank you."

I open the container to find a thick cream. What is this? It smells horrible, so it can't be a food. This reminds me of the remaining beef jerky in Iela's backpack. I screw on the cap of the container.

After I eat my "breakfast", I put the empty bag of beef jerky and the mysterious sponsor gift in Iela's pack. Again, I put on both her pack and mine, and climb down the tree.

I walk beside the chute, which is completely dry today. I don't take any chances walking inside it. Suddenly, I hear a crunching sound. Footsteps? I doubt it. I stop and look around anyway. When I decide it's safe, I start walking again. As soon as I take another step, _CRUNCH!_ The ground drops away, and I fall into a pit. I scream. One of my backpacks, I think Iela's, gets caught on a big tree branch, sharpened into a spike. I thrash around, trying to free myself, but it only causes me to get scratched by all the shorter spikes. They're such a strange combination of tree branches and spears from the Cornucopia. Finally, I turn around and lock my legs around the branch. I remove Iela's backpack. I hear voices from above, very faint.

"I heard a girl scream. She's here!" says a boy.

"Do you think she's still alive?" asks a girl.

"Her cannon didn't go off. It's okay. I'll go down and finish her."

The voices are so far away that I try to put the pack back on so I can slide to the ground. Unfortunately, there's a hole in it, leaving the tool useless. I decide to quickly transfer the supplies inside to the other, undamaged pack. After removing the water bottle, matches, wire, rope, and various other supplies, I find my sponsor gift. I drop the now-empty pack to the ground and examine the canister. There's a dent in the lid, and some of the cream has leaked out through an opening. It put some on my fingers and rub them together. I wish I knew what it did. Before those voices can get any closer, I reach out for the wall of the pit. Then I realize that I don't have any fingers. What? I'm so surprised I let go of the branch. Luckily, I grab it again before I can hit the ground. Wait…how can I grab it? I move my fingerless hand over to the damaged backpack. I lift it up, and it seems to hover in midair. I move my fingers. They're still there, all right, but I can't see them. Suddenly, I hear Minerva and Conrad's words in my head.

_Camouflage paint, Leda. Imagine being invisible! _Minerva had said.

_We aren't sure if it really exists, no one we know is, because it's supposed to be used just for the military,_ said Conrad.

_It's made from this special type of stone, in one of our own district's quarries! Can you believe it? It costs a fortune to make. But it would give District 2 an advantage in any fight,_ finished Minerva.

That's why Enobaria hasn't sent Shadow and I any sponsor gifts until now. She'd been saving up for something to help us take the offensive side for once. Sadly, if I put it on now, I might not ever get a chance to use it in a fight. Those voices are getting closer. I start to unscrew the lid.

"Have you seen the others around?" the girl was saying.

"We've set up traps all over the arena, unless you don't remember the past six days of digging holes in the ground. They don't have a chance," says the boy. I take a glob a cream from the canister and smear it on myself. Soon, I'm invisible from the waist down. It's a bit unnerving, not being able to see where your legs are. But I keep going. By the time a tribute girl looks over the edge of the pit, I'm completely covered in camouflage paint.

_Thank you Enobaria,_ I think.

"Where is she?" the girl says, looking down at me, "You told me you heard her."

A boy's face appears, too. "I don't know. She was in here. Why else would she have been screaming?" he says, "And the cover's gone! Someone broke it."

"Maybe it's that backpack down there. She could have thrown it, and screamed in surprise when it broke the covering," suggests the girl.

"The backpack isn't heavy enough. Look, it's empty! Plus, why would she throw it?" the boy says, "She's probably just hiding in the shadows." I recognize these tributes. They're the ones from District 9. The geniuses, with the singer girl.

"I'm going down there," says the boy. He throws down a rope ladder, probably homemade. He drives two stakes, tied to the top of the ladder, into the ground. Then, he starts to climb down into the pit. I back up as he reaches the bottom, trying not to move any of the tree-branch spikes as I go.

"There's no one in here!" The boy calls. He's still talking to his district partner as I sneak up behind him. I need to disarm him if I'm going to get out of here. I start to slowly maneuver his sword out of its sheath.

"Markus! What IS that?" shrieks the girl. I quickly pull the sword out the rest of the way and throw it across the pit.

"What's going on?" demands Markus, just before the empty container of camouflage paint connects with his head. He crumples to the floor. Luckily, he isn't impaled by one of his own spikes. I drop the canister and climb up the rope ladder. The girl is still leaning over the edge, screaming the boy's name.

I'm about to make a run for it, but I freeze when Cacelia and Flash, the remaining Careers, walk up behind the girl. She doesn't even notice. Flash draws her twin swords, and the girl turns around at the noise. She doesn't even have time to shout before her cannon goes off. Markus is next. Cacelia's battle axe disappears into the pit, and another cannon sounds. I don't move a muscle until the Careers walk away with the tributes' supplies. Then, I run in the other direction.


	20. Chapter 20: I Find A Shoe Clue

Chapter 20

My camouflage paint is beginning to wear off. When I hold out my hand, I can just see the faint outline of my fingers. Hopefully, I'm still invisible to anyone close by. Maybe half an hour ago, I decided to walk inside the chute, since no one could have dug a hole there, not even the tributes from 9. I'm listening extra closely for the sound of rushing water, but I don't hear a thing. The temperature is starting to rise, and my first water bottle is empty. I don't allow myself more than a sip of the second, since it's only halfway full to begin with. There's no sign of Shadow. No firewood. No lost or forgotten supplies. Not even a single footprint in the dust. Was he even traveling? I look at my hand again. My skin is starting to show through in small patches.

_It's the heat,_ I think, _That's why it's coming off._ I'm about to take a break for lunch when I come upon a clue. If I were in a joking mood, which I'm not, I might call it a shoe clue. A single buckle, like the one on the tributes' boots, lies in the dirt at the bottom of the chute. I pick it up, hoping no one will spot a floating buckle.

A short time later, I find a strip of fabric caught on a tree branch, high above my head. It looks like the materials used in the tribute jackets. If it's Shadow's, he could have grabbed at the branch when the water level was still high.

The next thing I find is the arrow. It's one of Bryony's metal weapons, stuck right down into the chute. This definitely belongs to Shadow. Maybe he found a way to force it into the chute to keep himself from being swept away. The water must have pulled him off. I grab the arrow and try my best to free it, but it's stuck tight. After a few failed attempts, I use my knife to dig it out.

The most important thing I find is the sword. Shadow's sword. I spot it from about twenty yards. It's stuck in the ground outside of the chute. Something's attached to it. It's Shadow! I start running towards him. As I get closer, I can see that he's unconscious, but still breathing. He's hanging onto his sword, facedown and halfway into the chute, like he'd been that way since the flood. I have just gotten within fifteen feet of him when I realize we aren't alone. The girl from 6 is there, too, raising her sword to strike.

"No!" I yell. I run at her with my knife. The girl looks, up, started by the voice out of nowhere. She squints a little, and seems to have found where I am just as I'm close enough to attack. She dodges the blows, but stays on defense the entire time. Eventually, she decides to flee. I don't run after her. I look over at Shadow. He's still just lying there, gripping his sword. I drag him out of the chute. It's hard, since he's so much bigger than I am. I roll him over to see a horrible bruise on his forehead, probably from tumbling down the chute. He's still a little damp from the water. It's incredible that he managed to keep hold of his sword the entire time. He even still has his backpack on. I know I can't get him anywhere until he comes to, but the girl from 6 could come back any minute.

"Shadow," I whisper, "Please wake up." Suddenly I hear a scream I'm almost sure belongs to the girl from 6, and a cannon is fired. I'm aware of footsteps in the distance, coming toward us.

"Come on, Shadow! Wake up!" I plead. I start shaking him. He doesn't move. Those footsteps are getting closer. I can't seem to pry his fingers away from the sword, so I grab his arms and try to drag him into the trees. But he's too heavy. I'm too little. We're too slow.

Just as Cacelia and Flash burst out of the trees and onto the banks of the chute, I yank Shadow into a bush and kneel down. We're dangerously close. Luckily, the Careers are too preoccupied reenacting their latest kill to notice us. As soon as they pass, laughing and kicking up leaves as they go, I have a new problem: Getting Shadow into a tree for the night.

The solution? I can't. Tonight, we sleep on the ground. I set up our sleeping bags and put Shadow on top of his, since I know I can't get him inside. I decide to keep watch all night. I'm so tired from everything that happened today, I can't possibly stay awake more than a few more hours. But I have to. The Careers could be searching for us now.

I'm woken up from an unintended nap by Shadow's coughing. I sit straight up in my sleeping bag and look over at him. His eyes open.

"Where…?" he starts. I try to stay serious, but I'm sure the audience knows how overjoyed I am that he's awake from just my expression.

"The wave took us far away from our old camp. And we have some new neighbors, the volunteer tributes. So we have to be extra careful from now on." I say.

"How long was I out?" he asks, pushing himself into a sitting position. He rubs his head.

"The entire day. You had some close calls with the girl from 6 and the Careers," I tell him. He starts smiling.

"What?" I ask, annoyed, "You almost died twice today! That's not funny."

"No," he agrees, "But you said 'Careers'." This time, I smile too.

"Guess I did," I say, "Oh, and Iela, the girl from 11, the tributes from 9 and the girl from 6 are all dead."

"So now there's only six of us. Flash, Cacelia," He holds up a finger for each tribute, "…the boy from 5, you and I… There's one more. You know who it is?" he asks.

"No," I say, "I can't remember."

"Hey, did you kill the girl from 6?" he asks me.

"No, the Careers did," I say.

"Oh, okay." There's a long pause after that.

"So…why are we on the ground?" he asks finally.

"Why are we on the ground? Because that's where tributes who have unconscious allies twice their size sleep," I tell him. He laughs.

"Then you better not have dozed off again keeping watch," he jokes.

"Well, if I'm correct, I almost died three times today, and saved your life twice. I think I deserved one nap," I say, "Don't worry, I'll stay awake from now on. But you've got first watch tomorrow."

"I guess I deserve that, for sleeping all day," he says, "Thanks for saving me." I nod, and Shadow lies back down. Soon, he falls asleep again. And I must be truly horrible at keeping watch, or maybe just exhausted from the day's events, because I drift off, too.


	21. Chapter 21: We Meet The Underdog

Chapter 21

Day 7

We both feel a lot better in the morning. Fortunately, no one found us while I was asleep. When we open our packs to get breakfast, we find that we've run out of food completely. Shadow's in no shape to hunt, so I take over for the day.

"Some purple flowers grow on the edge of the riverbed. They'll have water inside," I tell him.

"All right," he says, "Sure you're okay hunting?" I nod.

"How hard can it be?" I go off into the forest, armed with my knife, and Shadow heads toward the chute, with his sword and our water bottles. I assure myself that finding food in the arena will be different than in the Training Center, but it's immediately clear that I'm an incompetent hunter. I meet Shadow back at the chute with one measly squirrel to show for my efforts. I admit to him that hunting isn't my strong point. I can almost hear the laughter from the Capitol.

We decide to cross over to the other side of the chute to find food. Even though we don't hear a thing, Shadow and I are especially wary when we walk through.

We fill up our water bottles and start to find some edible plants.

"Well, I don't recognize these berries," I say.

"Then don't eat them," says Shadow.

"But Luster showed me some characteristics that poisonous berries have. These don't have any of them. I don't know…" I say.

"I have an idea. Maybe we should—" I never get to hear his idea, because a tribute comes crashing through the trees. I won't get to my knife in time. I prepare for a horrible death by Cacelia's axe or Flash's swords, but it isn't either of them. It's a boy, one I don't recognize. He must be the tribute we forgot about last night. He's completely disheveled. There are twigs and leaves stuck in his hair, and his face is smeared with dirt and blood. His mind must be in the same shape, because he's screaming like crazy, even though he doesn't seem to be in any danger.

"Help! Please! Don't make noise! No noise! Help!" he shouts. A strange request, no noise, with all the racket he's making. Shadow and I try to calm him down, but he remains hysterical. Suddenly, there's a flash of metal behind him and he falls facedown on the ground.

Shadow keeps a lookout for incoming tributes while I fall to my knees and try to help the boy. I can't do anything, though, because there's a throwing star lodged in the back of his head. His cannon goes off. I look at Shadow worriedly, but he hasn't spotted any tributes.

I want to turn back. I want to turn back terribly. But I hear the faint sound of laughing, and boots crunching on the leaves, coming from that direction. Careers.

"We have to keep going," Shadow tells me.

"I don't know. I think I'd rather face the Careers than whoever's over there," I say nervously.

"Maybe 'whoever' has already left," he says. We keep walking. I'm badly shaken from our run-in with the tribute boy. Shadow seems anxious, looking around in every direction like someone's sneaking up on us. It seems like we've avoided running into whoever killed the boy we met when another flash of metal comes out of nowhere. I hit the ground hard and the throwing star buries itself in a tree. Two more come flying and pin Shadow to a tree by the sleeves of his jacket. I yank them out and pull him to the ground just as another star hits. After that, for almost a full minute, there's silence. We stand up cautiously, hoping the ordeal is over. We can finally see our attacker. It's the blind boy from District 5. And he didn't sneak up on us. He's sitting on the ground at the edge of the chute, only a few yards away, in plain sight. He's holding an open backpack, filled to the brim with throwing stars. How did he get those? He fled the Cornucopia battle empty-handed.

"I know you're still there. I didn't hear a cannon," he says. He turns around and smiles a crooked grin in what he thinks is our direction. When he doesn't hear anything, he turns back around.

"Fine. I'll just wait," he says. Shadow and I glance at each other, thinking the same thing. _Don't make a sound._ It wasn't hysteria. It was a warning.

Shadow begins to move again. It's amazing how silent he can be. He's definitely lived up to his name. I take one step and another star comes flying in my direction. What on earth? I was silent! Was I? Did I break a twig? Crack a leaf? Just in time, Shadow's leg swings around and knocks my feet out from under me. The star almost takes off the tip of my nose as it passes over my head.

"OW!" I complain when I hit the ground, and roll out of the way as two more throwing stars are directed at me.

"Leda!" yells Shadow. The boy is standing now, grinning wildly, throwing stars left and right.

"There's two of you? Perfect. I'll win this in no time," the boy says. I stand up and start to run. I scream as a star gets stuck in my arm, and hit the ground as another comes aimed at my head. Shadow runs into a tree as he tries to escape, but falls over a root before a bunch of stars embed themselves in the bark. He gets up and starts waving madly at me. He moves his mouth like he's talking, and I realize that he needs a distraction.

"Hey!" I yell at the boy from 5, "Over here!" He throws a whole volley of stars at me. I continue to make noise, ducking and dodging. I kick up leaves with my boots and shout at him. When I start to get cut and scratched by the stars that don't quite miss me, I know I can't keep dodging them much longer. Shadow sneaks up behind the District 5 boy with silent steps. He begins to raise his sword. All of a sudden, I'm aware of a familiar noise. I can barely hear it at first, but it grows louder as it gets closer. It's the sound of rushing water. I know Shadow hears it, too, because he lowers his blade. Without warning, he shoves the District 5 boy into the chute just as the wave rushes through. He's pulled under the water, and the cannon sounds.


	22. Chapter 22: There's Always a Finale

Chapter 22

Day 8

It was the boy from 8. That was the tribute we forgot. The one who tried to save our lives. We saw his face in the sky last night. His picture had a number under it. That's all. Not even a name.

We climb down from our tree. Actually, for Shadow, it's more like falling. We start our usual routine of hunting and gathering by the edge of the chute. I wander off into the woods. There are only four of us left. So far, this has been one of the quickest Games. If I get out of here alive, I'll be truly grateful. I kneel down to dig some roots out of the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a rabbit. I realize it's the first time I've really seen a rabbit in the arena, one that isn't running away from me, or already dead. I can't miss this chance. I take out my knife and whip around, ready to attack, but the creature seems to have fled. I'm about to turn back around when I see it again, about twenty feet away. It isn't facing me, so I creep up on it from behind. Right before I strike, I'm distracted for a second by a loud birdcall. Once I turn back to the rabbit, it's vanished again. I find it a third time, a little farther away. I don't bother being quiet anymore. I run towards it and throw my knife. It hits the rabbit, and kills it. It's such a big deal to me; I'm half expecting a cannon to go off. I grin. My first rabbit! Won't Shadow be happy? But then, where is Shadow? While chasing the rabbit, I've traveled far away from our meeting place by the chute. I retrieve my knife, store the rabbit in my pack, and start walking through the trees. I'm pretty sure I'm going in the right direction, because I can see the chute up ahead. But then I see something that almost makes my heart stop. It's a little silver ring, lying on the ground a few yards away. It's Shadow's token.

Too worried to care about being heard—there are only four of us, anyway—I run through the woods calling his name.

"Shadow! Shadow!" I yell. I swear every root goes out of its way to trip me. I can hear him calling back, very faintly. I can also hear the sound of weapons colliding. The Careers. I have to help him. I finally stumble into a clearing, where I find Shadow. He's in the middle of a fight against Flash with her long twin swords and Cacelia with her nasty double-sided battle axe. Cacelia wears a solemn expression. Her hair is tangled and her eyes are a bit wild. She must have taken a blow to the face at some point, because she now has a long cut across the bridge of her nose, which appears to be broken. Flash seems as overconfident as ever. Even though she looks about as banged-up as her ally, she still has a huge grin on her face. Cacelia's the first to notice me. She stops fighting. Flash catches Shadow's sword between her two and straightens up, like she's taking a break. Cacelia gives a little jerk of her head in my direction. Flash nods and starts fighting Shadow again. Cacelia twirls the axe in her hand and walks over to me.

"Why, hello there," she says, "Who might you be?" I don't answer her. She shrugs and gives a small swing of her axe. I step back to avoid the blade. I dodge another swing, and another. I don't fight back, so Cacelia smiles and starts to battle for real. She's amazing, really. How she learned these kinds of skills in District 7, I have no idea. Fortunately, I've learned how to defend myself pretty well in the past week, so I manage not to get chopped to pieces.

Shadow is doing remarkably well in his fight, seeing as he only has one sword and four days of training to use against Flash's two swords and nine years. Flash keeps trying to slice Shadow with her weapons, but he fights her off with his own. Suddenly, she tries to stab Shadow in the chest. He leaps backwards just in time to avoid a fatal wound. As Shadow tries to strike, Flash crosses her swords in front of her and stops his. She laughs as he tries to push her weapons away. Still laughing, she twists around and uncrosses the blades, probably expecting to dodge at the last moment, and Shadow's sword comes down hard on her back. She falls and her cannon sounds.

When Cacelia hears the cannon blast, she turns around to see her ally lying on the ground.

"Flash!" she yells. She completely ignores me and turns on Shadow, swinging her axe like mad. I run forward and try to stop her, but she pushes me down. As Shadow dodges her weapon, he's forced to the ground. Just as Cacelia's raising her axe to deliver the final blow, I jump up, run over and grab her arm. She whips around and tries to swing at me with her axe, but I see an opening and stab her in the stomach with my knife.

Cacelia takes the knife out and drops it on the ground. She looks like she's debating on whether or not to keep fighting. But then she collapses, a surprised and confused look on her face. Her eyes flutter shut and the cannon goes off.

"What have I done?" I ask myself. She's the first person I've killed. The _only_ person I've killed.

"It's okay. She was an enemy," Shadow says.

"There's no reason why she should have been our enemy! Maybe we could have even been friends outside the arena! But that's not possible. Because of the Games, but also because of me! I can't believe you would think like that! I—" I trail off, because I've realized what has to happen next.

"Shadow," I say, "We're the only two left."

"What?" he says incredulously. I nod. Then, I start crying.

"We should have broken our alliance when we had the chance!" I sob.

"It was so unlikely we'd both make it to the end. Either of us could have been killed at any moment during the Games," he said.

"We saved each other. We didn't have experience fighting, but we were already a team," I say, shaking my head.

"So what do we d—" Shadow starts. Then, we're both paralyzed by the sound coming from deeper in the woods. It's one of the loudest noises I've ever heard. It's a low rumbling sound, similar to an earthquake. But this is no earthquake. It's a growl. It's the Gamemakers, sending us a clear message. _Stop talking and fight._ From the amount of birds taking wing just a short distance away, I believe we have about a minute to figure out what to do next. Whatever was making that sound was something we didn't want to meet.

"The Gamemakers are going to sic that…that _thing_ on us if we don't act now," I say, "We have to fight." We draw our weapons, and the growling immediately subsides. We start to circle each other.

"This isn't how I want to say goodbye to you, Leda," Shadow says.

"I know, but it has to be this way. We don't have a choice. There's only one victor in the Hunger Games," I tell him. We move closer and closer until I can whisper something in his ear.

"Pin me down and cut my tracker out. See those bushes over there? Those are the flaming ferns I ran into on the first day. Fight me until I'm over there, deliver the final blow, and I'll put out the flames on the way down that hill. It's likely this arena will be turned into a tourist attraction, so they'll save it. Volunteer to be a mentor next year. Help me escape," I say, barely audible. With the growling that's begun in the distance again, I doubt anyone but Shadow heard me.

"I can't fight you, Leda!" Shadow says above the noise. I know from the pain in his voice that he's serious. This isn't for the audience.

"You have to!" I say.

"I won't leave you!" he says.

"Only one of us can leave here alive! Fight!" I say. I run towards him, knife ready, and he does exactly what I need him to do. He tackles me, grabs my weapon, and pins me down to the ground. I can tell it's hard for him to do it, but he digs the knife into my forearm. I want to scream, it hurts so badly, but he might not get my tracker out if I do. Finally, my tracker is gone, spilled onto the ground with some of my blood. Perfect. According to my tracker, I'm dead now. The cameras say otherwise, so my cannon hasn't gone off yet. I don't feel like fighting anymore, but I push Shadow aside and stand up. There's no way I would have been able to get him off of me if we were actually fighting, but he lets me escape this time. Shadow drops my knife and picks up his sword again. He slashes at me, but I dodge the blade every time. I'm almost to the clump of ferns when I "give up". Shadow traps me, sword at my back. I raise my hands above my head. I wait for him to strike, but nothing happens.

"Do it, Shadow," I say. Shadow breaks down.

"No! I can't kill you!"

"Only one of us is going home alive. And it's going to be you! JUST DO IT!" I say. He swings his sword around at my back. It penetrates my backpack, but I'm still unharmed. The cameras can see that. But they can also see me stumble forward, right into the ferns. They can see the bushes burst into flames around me, and they can see me tumble down the hill, lit up like a torch.


	23. Epilogue1: The Worst is Over

Epilogue

Leda Cleary

My fire went out once I rolled down that hill. But the cameras couldn't see that. They were too busy focusing on their new victor, Shadow Corelli from District 2. I ended up in a clump of dense bushes, safely out of sight. I couldn't have picked a better place to fake my death. Hearing my own cannon go off was a little scary. So was seeing Shadow's face when I caught on fire. I wonder where he is now. The hovercraft came to pick up my body, but of course, after seeing the footage of my death, they probably didn't think there would be a body to pick up. So they looked around once, and then left me alone. I know that all the cameras have been turned off, because I've never seen footage of an arena after the Games have taken place. So now, after lying here for hours, it's finally safe to come out of hiding.

I staunch the flow of blood from my wrist with a bandage from one of the first aid kits. It's so dark in here now; I can barely see the inside of my backpack. I find they've kept some animals inside the arena, though I hope the one that was growling at Shadow and I has disappeared. It would scare away the tourists, right? Then again, these tourists were perfectly happy watching Iela drown, Luster fall off a cliff, the girl from 11 murdered with a battle axe, the girl from 9 stabbed by two swords, and me burn to death. So I walk up the hill to grab my knife, just in case. I'm thrilled to see that Shadow has left his backpack and sword for me to have.

"Thank you so much, Shadow!" I say quietly. It's far too silent in this arena, and I know no cameras or microphones are recording me now, so I feel free to speak. I drop his pack and my own in a pile in the middle of the clearing. I drive his sword into the ground as a kind of marker.

After taking a walk through the arena, I arrive back at my new home with a backpack full of edible plants, a bird, and a rabbit. I don't stay long, though. I pack my bags and head to the Cornucopia. It's easily big enough to store my supplies. It could be a terrific house while I'm here. The best part, by far, is that I'm in the middle of the Careers' old camp. All their supplies are here. A bunch of sleeping bags, a ton of matches, an enormous amount of rope, all the necessities.

A short time later I hear a sound coming from the chute, just a short walk away from the Cornucopia, that can only mean one thing. The flood. I rush over to the chute and fill up some water bottles with fresh water. Before I drink, I make sure to snap one of those fancy Capitol filters that could only be a sponsor gift onto the bottle.

"I'll be safe here," I say to myself, "Happy, even. I'll just wait here until Shadow comes back. It'll be fine. There's no more fighting. Just survival. Easy enough." I sit down inside the Cornucopia, and start braiding together some long blades of grass.

"All I have to do now is wait. I can do this."


	24. Epilogue2: The Victor

Shadow

My platform is the last to be raised up onto the stage. The crowd erupts into applause. I walk over to the chair next to Caesar's and take my seat.

"Shadow! It's nice to see you back here!" Caesar says.

"Thanks, it's nice to be back," I reply. The crowd laughs, though I don't see what's funny.

"This was one of the most exciting Games I've ever seen," Caesar tells me. He turns to the audience, and asks, "Does anyone else agree with me?" The crowd cheers.

"Yes, yes," he continues, "Lots of formidable opponents! Who do you think was your biggest competition in the arena?"

"Hard to say," I answer truthfully, "Iela and Flash had their fighting skills. And the boy from 5—"

"Caelius," says Caesar.

"Caelius," I repeat. The crowd talks amongst themselves, as if remembering when Caelius was here for his interview. I can't believe I didn't even bother to learn his name before I killed him.

"He was incredible with throwing stars, even without his sight," I go on, "And the girl from 12…Bryony, I think, had her accuracy using a bow and arrow. She was incredible, really. And Cacelia as well. She really knew how to use that battle axe of hers. She would have survived if not Leda or myself."

"Won," Caesar corrects.

"No, survived," I say, "And then… there was Leda, of course." Guilt washes over me like the arena's flood. I killed them all. Not Cacelia, but I was the reason she was distracted enough for Leda to kill her. Not Iela, but she drowned in that flood because she was following Leda…and me. And Leda herself? I didn't kill her, but I may as well have.

Caesar's voice softens as he says, "If you don't mind me asking, what was it like to fight your best friend?" Of course I mind him asking. But I answer anyway.

"I wish every day that…that I had been brave enough to die instead." The crowd gasps, and I look down at my shoes. Had that been the right thing to say? It was the truth…

Caesar says, "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, but it wasn't Leda's, either. She died in the arena! That's not what she deserved!" I'm yelling now.

"Calm down, Shadow," says Caesar.

"No!" I shout, "Not when it should have been me!" I run out of the room, not caring what anyone thought. Not even the Capitol.


End file.
